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Resolute Forest Products

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FY2014 Annual Report · Resolute Forest Products
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2014
ANNUAL 
REPORT

BUILDING A 
SUCCESSFUL 
TOMORROW

TABLE 0F  
CONTENTS

2 
4 
6 

11 
14 
16 
17 
18 

19 
20 
22 
26 
28 

30 
3 1  
36 
42 
44 
46 
48 
50 
52 
54 
55 

56 

Resolute at a Glance
2014 Highlights
Letter from the Chairman and  
the President and Chief Executive Officer
Consolidated Earnings  
Sustainability Highlights
Our Vision and Our Values
Business and Sustainability Strategy
Our Operations

BUSINESS SEGMENTS
Newsprint
Specialty Papers
Market Pulp
Wood Products

SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability Performance
Fiber and Forestry
Lasting Collaboration with First Nations
Engaging in Dialogue
Energy and Climate Change
Mill Environmental Performance
Human Resources
Health and Safety
Community Involvement
Recognizing the Contributions of Our Employees

Board of Directors and Corporate Officers
Shareholder Information

The inside pages of this report are printed on ResoluteMax 84 Gloss  
60 lb (89 g/m2) paper, part of Resolute’s Align™ portfolio of 
environmentally conscious papers. This paper was manufactured at our 
Catawba (South Carolina) mill. With its smaller environmental footprint, 
ResoluteMax 84 Gloss is the perfect alternative to more costly  
coated freesheet paper.

Among its environmental benefits, ResoluteMax 84 Gloss:
•  uses 12% less wood fiber than the average coated freesheet  

in North America;

•  uses 25% less energy to produce than the average coated freesheet  

in North America;

•  has a carbon footprint that is 35% smaller over its life cycle than that of  

the average coated freesheet in North America; and 

•  is available with SFI® and/or PEFC chain of custody certifications. 

2014
ANNUAL  
REPORT

BUILDING A 
SUCCESSFUL 
TOMORROW

Cover (from top right, clockwise):
Julie Lamontagne, Kénogami paper mill
Johnny Awashish, Opitciwan sawmill
Mariem Elsayed, Montréal office
Daniel Bolduc, Kénogami paper mill 
Michel Belleau, Lac-Saint-Jean woodlands

 
 
 
RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT

1

BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL TOMORROW

At Resolute, our actions today build a sustainable and profitable 
company for the future. With a network of some 40 pulp and 
paper mills and wood products facilities in the United States, 
Canada and South Korea, we have an operating platform  
that has the scale, financial strength and cost advantage to 
withstand market challenges. We are leveraging this financial 
strength to seize opportunities to diversify, innovate and grow. 
Fortunately, we have the flexibility to consider a range of 
appropriate opportunities and the patience to make sure  
the valuation is right. It is a strategic choice we make for  
a stronger tomorrow. 

Our continued success as a forest products leader is 
inextricably linked to the engagement of our 7,700 employees 
in providing the quality and service to meet the needs of 
thousands of customers. Sustainability is front and center within 
our corporate culture; it guides our approach to the way we 
conduct business every day. Our ability to establish truly 
collaborative relationships with communities, First Nations, 
governments and other key stakeholders is critically important 
as is our commitment to increase share value for investors. 

In a constantly evolving market, we take charge of our future. 
We make plans, take action and measure results. We say what 
we do and do what we say. We move forward on the strength 
of our successes and the challenges overcome. And every step 
we take prepares the groundwork for shared prosperity. 

RESOLUTE  
AT A GLANCE

2

Total sales of 

$4,258  
million

Adjusted EBITDA1 of

$366 
million

100% 

of the forests  
we manage  
are third-party 
certified 

EBITDA1 of  

$221 
million 

from market pulp  
and wood products  

72% 

of energy is sourced  
from renewable  
sources

1.  EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP financial measures, are defined and reconciled on pages 11 and 12.

Note: All figures in this report are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated.

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT3

DISTRIBUTION OF 2014 SALES BY % OF REVENUE 

NEWSPRINT

SPECIALTY PAPERS

MARKET PULP

WOOD PRODUCTS

33% 30% 23% 14%

DISTRIBUTION OF 2014 SALES BY REGION 

NEWSPRINT

SPECIALTY PAPERS

MARKET PULP

WOOD PRODUCTS

United States

Latin America

Canada

Asia

Europe

Other countries

46%

23%

12%

1 1 %

7%

1%

2015 TOTAL PRODUCTION CAPACITY2

60%

40%

90%

5%

4%

1%

67%

6%

8%

6%

10%

3%

NEWSPRINT

SPECIALTY PAPERS

MARKET PULP

WOOD PRODUCTS

2.6 million 
metric tons

1.5 million 
metric tons

1.7 million 
metric tons

2.8 billion 
board feet3

2.  Represents capacity for pulp and paper manufacturing facilities and wood products facilities we owned or operated as of December 31, 2014 (excluding facilities 

and paper machines that were permanently closed as of December 31, 2014).  
For more information, see Part 1, Item 1, “Business – Our Products” in our 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K.  

3.  Our current supply of fiber, particularly in light of Quebec’s new forest tenure system, limits our operating capacity to about 2 billion board feet per year.  

In 2014, we shipped 1.6 billion board feet of wood products.

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT4

2014  
HIGHLIGHTS

FEBRUARY

•  Renewed U.S. collective  

agreements

MARCH 

•  Added two more grades  
to our Align™ brand of  
eco-friendly papers

APRIL

MAY

•  Our recycled pulp, the industry 

•  Renewed Canadian collective 

•  Announced a $105 million upgrade 
at our Calhoun (Tennessee) mill to 
produce more pulp, with a higher 
quality at a lower cost

benchmark for quality and 
cleanliness, cleared by the  
U.S. Food and Drug Administration 
(FDA) for use in food packaging 

agreements 

•  Created social media platforms, 
borealforestfacts.com (March),  
The Resolute Blog (July) and  
Boreal Forum (November),  
to engage forest stakeholders

JUNE

•  $10 million investment at our 

Mokpo (South Korea) paper mill  
to lower costs and increase 
newsprint quality

•  Launched R&D joint venture, 

Performance BioFilaments Inc., to 
develop commercial applications 
for a new source of biomaterial  
made from wood fiber

•  Resolute ranked among Canada’s 
Best 50 Corporate Citizens by 
Corporate Knights

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT5

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER 

•  Resolute’s president and  

chief executive officer named to 
Canada’s Clean50 list of leaders  
in sustainable development and  
clean capitalism in Canada

•  Confirmed total GHG emission 
reduction of 67.5% since 2000, 
surpassing our commitment  
two years ahead of schedule 

NOVEMBER 

•  Named among Canada’s  

Top 100 Corporate  
R&D spenders  
by Research Infosource

•  Opening of Thunder Bay  

wood pellet plant

DECEMBER

•  Introduced Resolute Connect™,  
a commodity offset paper made 
from 100% kraft pulp

•  In 2014, achieved an ambitious  
and world-class Occupational  
Safety and Health Administration 
(OSHA) rate of 0.83, a 19% 
improvement over 2013

•  Reduced mill environmental 
incidents by 19% over 2013

•  Restarted Ignace sawmill,  

in Ontario

•  Received The New Economy 

magazine’s global Clean Tech  
award for best forestry and  
paper solutions

•  Over 1,000 new employees added 
to the team, and looking to hire 
another 4,000 or more by 2018

Jeremy Palmer, Thunder Bay wood pellet plant

Michèle Anctil, Mauricie woodlands operations

Theodore Van Tassel, Ignace sawmill

Dave Duchesne, Saint-Hilarion sawmill

 the

 neweconomy
AWARDS
2014

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORTLETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND  
THE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

6

Bradley P. Martin

Chairman

Richard Garneau

President and Chief Executive Officer

Resolute is a company that walks the talk. We clearly articulate 
our plans, measure results against our goals and generate value 
for our many stakeholders. We have a dedicated, loyal and skilled 
workforce, and together, as a unified team, we deliver on our 
commitments, address challenges and capitalize on opportunities. 
With a capital structure that is intentionally flexible and conservative, 
our financial strength gives us the ability to look at a range of 
appropriate opportunities to diversify, innovate and grow, and  
the patience to make sure the valuation is right. 

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT     
7

A SOLID 
FINANCIAL 
POSITION

Our market pulp and wood products 
segments generated $221 million of 
EBITDA in 2014, a 30% improvement 
over 2013. Their strong performance 
helped us to deliver three solid 
consecutive quarters to finish the year 
with $366 million of adjusted EBITDA, 
even as the abnormally cold winter  
of 2014 set us back by $55 million. 

At year-end, we had cash and cash 
equivalents of $337 million on hand and 
total liquidity of $858 million, giving us 
ample flexibility to execute our business 
priorities. 

Capital expenditures in 2014 were 
$193 million. For 2015, we expect to 
spend approximately $200 million, 
including $130 million in value-creating 
projects such as our capital projects  
to grow our wood products and pulp 
businesses.

After rising interest rates helped to 
reduce the net pension and other 
postretirement benefit (OPEB) 
liability on our balance sheet by nearly 
$700 million in 2013, interest rates 
shifted downward in 2014, finishing the 
year even below 2012 levels. But thanks 
to strong asset returns, the favorable 
currency impact and amendments to 
our OPEB plans, our balance sheet net 
pension obligation and OPEB liabilities 

increased by $330 million to $1.6 billion 
in 2014, compared to $2.0 billion  
in 2012. This increase also includes 
the significant impact of longer life 
expectancy assumptions in both  
Canada and the United States. 

Also in 2014, we renewed important 
collective agreements in Canada 
covering 2,000 unionized workers,  
as well as U.S. labor agreements at  
four pulp and paper mills covering  
1,500 employees. These mutually 
beneficial agreements, which cover  
over 70% of our pulp and paper 
production capacity, reinforce our 
position as a competitive employer  
and a financially strong and reliable 
supplier for our customers. 

INVESTING 
IN OUR 
OPERATIONS

Resolute is a lower cost industry leader, 
committed to maximizing shareholder 
value and earnings power. We believe 
in investing in our operations to 
increase profitability and long-term 
competitiveness. 

We apply our principles of operational 
excellence to our synergistic and 
diversified asset base, one that has 
evolved with time, as we execute our 
gradual retreat from certain paper 
grades toward more sustainable  
long-term businesses. Put simply,  

our paper segments generate  
significant cash flow, which we use to 
grow our business for the long term.  
This synergistic and complementary 
asset base also offers the fiber 
management advantage of integration 
and earnings diversification.

We announced significant investments, 
among them a $105 million upgrade 
to our Calhoun, Tennessee, pulp and 
paper mill, including the installation of 
a modern continuous pulp digester and 
other wood chip processing equipment. 
We are making excellent progress, and 
we expect to start the ramp-up process 
in the fourth quarter of 2015. At capacity, 
we will have an additional 100,000 
metric tons of market pulp available on 
an annualized basis. This world-class 
equipment will help to significantly  
lower the mill’s overall costs and improve 
the quality of its products. Considering 
the support we have received from  
the state of Tennessee, McMinn County 
and the Tennessee Valley Authority,  
and especially the benefits we expect 
the project to yield, the anticipated  
return on this project is very attractive. 

We also invested C$90 million 
in Northwestern Ontario for the 
construction of a new sawmill in 
Atikokan, the upgrade and restart of an 
idled sawmill in Ignace, the production 
capacity increase at our Thunder Bay 
sawmill, as well as the addition of a  
wood pellet plant at the Thunder Bay 
site. The Thunder Bay sawmill,  
a collaboration with the Fort William  
First Nation, is the largest and most 
modern in Eastern Canada. 

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT     
LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND  
THE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (CONTINUED)

8

The pellet plant will have the capacity 
to produce up to 50,000 metric tons 
of wood pellets annually from residual 
sawdust. The plant has a ten-year 
agreement to supply the local power 
utility with 45,000 metric tons of  
pellets annually. 

The Atikokan and Ignace sawmills are 
expected to boost our annual operating 
capacity by about 260 million board feet. 
These two sawmills and other ongoing 
projects will help us grow our annualized 
sawmill operating capacity to around 
1.9 billion board feet, a 30% increase 
over 2013. These investments will also 
help create 200 sawmill jobs, another 
200 woodlands jobs, and additional 
significant indirect employment for 
the region. In conjunction with the 
sawmill investments, Resolute signed 
a Memorandum of Agreement with six 
First Nations, which sets out a framework 
for negotiating business agreements. 
To date, this agreement has resulted in 
C$100 million in new business for our 
First Nations partners.

INNOVATING 
FOR THE 
FUTURE

Looking to the technologies of 
tomorrow, we launched Performance 
BioFilaments Inc., a research and 
development biomaterial joint venture 
with Mercer International Inc., to 
develop commercial applications for 
cellulose filaments, a new source of 
biomaterial made from wood fiber. 

This versatile material can be used to 
add strength, stability, flexibility and 
longevity to concrete, composites and 
coatings for use in the aviation, marine, 
aerospace, electronics manufacturing 
and construction sectors. 

We are also investing in a world-class 
greenhouse. In partnership with the town 
of Saint-Félicien, local entrepreneurs 
and a new entity, Serres Toundra, we will 
build the largest greenhouse complex in 
Quebec. Proximity to our kraft pulp mill 
provides synergies that will benefit  
all parties, and we expect this venture 
will create up to 400 jobs in the  
region by 2018. 

WORLD-CLASS 
SAFETY 
PERFORMANCE

At Resolute, safety is an absolute  
priority and one in which no compromise 
is acceptable. It is a core value,  
linked to every part of our business.  
Zero incidents is our ultimate goal  
and the foundation of operational 
excellence. 

While 2013 had been the best safety 
year in the company’s history, we 
surpassed it in 2014, recording a  
world-class Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration (OSHA) incident 
rate of 0.83. This accomplishment 
reflects our employees’ focus,  
dedication and vigilance in striving  
for an injury-free workplace.

DIFFICULT 
DECISIONS 
TO ENSURE 
ONGOING 
SUCCESS

2014 was also a year of difficult 
decisions. We closed our Laurentide mill 
in Shawinigan, Quebec, which employed 
275 people and had a production 
capacity of 191,000 metric tons of 
specialty papers. We also permanently 
closed the previously idled pulp and 
paper mill in Fort Frances, Ontario.  
Late in the fourth quarter, we announced 
a further removal of 465,000 metric 
tons of newsprint capacity, with the 
closure of our Iroquois Falls, Ontario, 
mill, which affected 180 employees,  
and the closure of two paper machines, 
one at Baie-Comeau, Quebec, in 
December and one at Clermont, 
Quebec, in February of 2015, which 
affected an additional 120 employees.

The cost positions of these operations 
as well as ongoing market challenges, 
including the global weakness in 
newsprint, the high cost of fiber in 
Quebec, and higher transportation 
and fuel costs, made them vulnerable. 
However, another issue was at play 
that cannot be ignored: the ill-founded 
attacks of environmental activist  
groups that misrepresent the company’s 
forest management practices. These 
campaigns have been proven to be 
based on misinformation and falsehoods.  

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT     
9

The fact is the Canadian boreal 
ecosystem from which our Canadian 
facilities source the bulk of their wood 
fiber requirements is one of the world’s  
most robust, and Ontario and Quebec’s 
forest management regimes and 
regulations are among the most 
stringent in the world. 

BALANCING 
ENVIRONMENTAL, 
SOCIAL AND 
ECONOMIC 
PRIORITIES

As in previous years, we continue to 
place importance on our sustainability 
practices and on the disclosure of our 
sustainability performance. We have 
deliberately developed our business 
and sustainability strategies to be 
interdependent, and that is why since  
2012, we have been combining our 
financial and sustainability results  
in our annual report. 

In 2014, we surpassed our greenhouse 
gas (GHG) emission reduction target 
two years ahead of schedule, reducing 
emissions by 67.5% over our year 2000 
baseline. As a member of the World 
Wildlife Fund® (WWF®) Climate Savers 
Program, Resolute made among the 
most ambitious commitments in the 
industry, on a global basis, to reduce  
our carbon footprint. 

Over 50% of the improvement came 
from reductions in energy consumption, 
fuel switching and fuel mix, including 
the complete elimination of on-site coal 
use. Today, about 70% of Resolute’s total 
energy needs come from renewable 
sources. 

We produce a significant portion of 
our energy needs internally, using 
hydroelectric facilities that we own  
and cogeneration facilities fueled by 
biomass by-products. We estimate that 
these sources provide approximately 
$55-60 million of annualized cost savings 
when compared to buying electricity 
from the grid. We also have four 
cogeneration facilities in Canada that 
sell substantial amounts of electricity 
to third parties. These facilities helped 
improve EBITDA by $43 million in 2014.

We work to minimize our consumption 
of resources and the generation 
of waste, air emissions and water 
discharge by going beyond minimum 
legal requirements. We also focus on 
continuous improvement and have 
environmental management systems 
(EMS) in place at all our operating  
sites – the majority certified to  
stringent ISO 14001 standards.

We are pleased to report that we 
reduced mill environmental incidents 
by 19% in 2014, surpassing our 10% 
reduction target over 2013. We continue 
to work toward zero incidents and have 
raised the bar yet again for 2015 by 
setting a further 9% reduction target.

When it comes to fiber and forestry, 
100% of the woodlands Resolute 
manages are independently certified 
to at least one of three internationally 
recognized sustainable forest 
management standards: Forest 
Stewardship Council® (FSC®), 
Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) 
and  CSA Group (CSA). In addition, 
every one of our North American 
manufacturing facilities has fiber-
tracking systems, all of which are 
third-party certified to one or more of 
three internationally recognized chain of 
custody (CoC) standards, namely FSC, 
SFI and Programme for the Endorsement 
of Forest Certification (PEFC). 

And on the subject of fiber, this past year 
we expanded our eco-conscious Align™ 
brand of papers by adding two more 
grades: Hybrid and Alternative. Our 
Align papers are made with up to 50% 
less wood fiber compared to freesheet 
paper, and have an environmental 
footprint 35% to 85% smaller than that 
of the average freesheet grade. 

Resolute’s long-term competitiveness  
is strongly linked to attracting, 
developing and retaining our workforce 
of the future. In 2014, we hired  
1,089 employees and are on target to 
hire 4,250 new employees over the 
2014-2018 period. We also launched 
an integrated leadership system 
designed to increase organizational 
capabilities. Over the next few years, 
many of our employees will take their 
well-deserved retirement, and we are 
committed to building a workplace 
where our employees will learn, grow 
and contribute. 

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT     
LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND  
THE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (CONTINUED)

10

Also this past year, in addition to 
developing information sources such as 
borealforestfacts.com and The Resolute 
Blog, we continued the rollout of the 
Forum boréal and Boreal Forum social 
media platforms. A series of town hall 
meetings complemented these online 
forums, which encourage fact-based 
discussions about sustainable forestry 
practices and help ensure that individual 
and community voices are heard, 
especially with respect to the socio-
economic importance of forestry to 
northern communities.

We are delighted that others are 
noticing our genuine and substantive 
sustainability accomplishments.  
This past year, Resolute was ranked 
among the “Best 50 Corporate 
Citizens” in Canada by Corporate 
Knights; Richard Garneau was named 
to Canada’s elite Clean50, recognizing 
leaders who have made the greatest 
contribution to sustainability and clean 
capitalism; and the company received 
The New Economy magazine’s global 
Clean Tech award for best forestry  
and paper solutions.

RESOLUTE’S 2015  
BUSINESS PRIORITIES 

Committed to increasing earnings 
power and creating value for 
shareholders in the long term

1

Increase efficiencies,  
set manufacturing cost targets  
and benchmark performance  
at all operations

2

Manage production and  
inventory levels taking into  
account market conditions

3

Pursue sales strategy  
to produce only what our  
customers order

4

Identify and support  
disciplined capital investments  
at our most competitive facilities

5

Pursue opportunistic growth  
to complement our product mix  
or improve competitiveness  
of existing assets

A LOOK 
AHEAD

2015 holds both challenges and 
opportunities for Resolute. We remain 
committed to maximizing shareholder 
value and earnings power by stressing 
our guiding principles of operational 
excellence in everything we do, pushing 
to optimize our asset base in order to 
maximize the utilization of our most 
cost-effective mills, and streamlining 
production to adapt to changing market 
dynamics. We will continue to apply our 
principles of operational excellence to 
our synergistic and diversified asset 
base, one that has evolved with time, 
as we execute our gradual retreat from 
certain paper grades toward more 
sustainable long-term businesses.  
And we will continue to make 
disciplined capital management a 
priority, maintaining a flexible and 
conservative capital structure that gives 
us the ability to consider a range of 
suitable opportunities, and the patience 
to make sure the valuation is right.

We have our employees to thank for 
the important progress we have made 
toward building a successful tomorrow. 
Once again, they have shown that we 
work as one team with one vision,  
where profitability and sustainability 
drive our future.

Bradley P. Martin
Chairman

Richard Garneau
President and Chief Executive Officer

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
CONSOLIDATED EARNINGS  
SELECTED ANNUAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION

11

Years ended December 31, 
(in millions, except per share amounts and percentages)

2014

2013

2012

Sales

Operating income (loss) per segment

  Newsprint

Specialty papers

  Market pulp

  Wood products

  Corporate / other

Total

Net (loss) income

Net (loss) income per common share

  Basic

  Diluted

Cash and cash equivalents

Total assets

Adjusted EBITDA5

Adjusted EBITDA margin5

ROE, adjusted for special items6

$ 4,258

$  4,461

$ 4,503

23

(17)

66

69

(315)

(174)

(277)

$  (2.93)

(2.93)

$  337

4,921

$  366

8.6%

1.4%

40

35

42

41

(160)

(2)

(639) 4

$  (6.75)

(6.75)

$  322

5,385

$  377

8.5%

2.8%

97

85

(43)

26

(193)

(28)

1

$  0.01

0.01

$  263

6,333

$  393

8.7%

2.6%

4. 

Includes a $604 million non-recurring, non-cash income tax charge, taken largely in the third quarter of 2013, to reduce the value of deferred income tax assets on our  
balance sheet. For more information, see our 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

5.  Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and depreciation and amortization, or “EBITDA”, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin are not financial 

measures recognized under GAAP. EBITDA is calculated as net income (loss) including noncontrolling interests from the consolidated statements of operations, adjusted 
for interest expense, income taxes, and depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA means EBITDA, excluding special items, such as foreign exchange translation 
gains and losses, severance costs, closure costs, impairment and other related charges, inventory write-downs related to closures, start-up costs, gains and losses on 
disposition of assets, net loss on extinguishment of debt, write-down of equity method investment, transaction costs and other charges or credits. Adjusted EBITDA 
margin is adjusted EBITDA expressed as a percentage of sales. We believe that using measures such as EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin is useful 
because they are consistent with the indicators management uses internally to measure the company’s performance, and it allows the reader to more easily compare  
our ongoing operations and financial performance from period to period. EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin are internal measures and, therefore,  
may not be comparable to those of other companies.

6.  Return on equity, or “ROE”, is a non-GAAP financial measure, calculated by dividing net income (loss), excluding the special items identified on page 12, by adjusted 

shareholders’ equity. ROE is a measure of profitability that shows how much profit the company generated as a percentage of shareholder money invested.

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CONSOLIDATED EARNINGS  
Selected Annual Financial Information (continued)

12

Years ended December 31, 
(in millions)

2014

2013

2012

Net loss including noncontrolling interests

$  (274)

$  (639)

$ 

(33)

Interest expense

Income tax (benefit) provision

  Depreciation and amortization

EBITDA

  Foreign exchange translation loss (gain)

Severance costs

  Closure costs, impairment and other related charges

Inventory write-downs related to closures

Start-up costs

  Net gain on disposition of assets

  Write-down of equity method investment

  Net loss on extinguishment of debt

  Transaction costs

  Other income, net

Adjusted EBITDA

(in millions, except ROE)

GAAP, as reported

Adjustments for special items:

  Foreign exchange translation loss

  Closure costs, impairment and other related charges

Inventory write-downs related to closures

Start-up costs

  Net gain on disposition of assets

  Write-down of equity method investment

  Other income, net

Income tax effect of special items

  Cumulative past-year adjustments for special items

47

(30)

243

51

524

243

66

(39)

233

$ 

(14)

$ 

179

$  227

32

—

278

17

4

(2)

61

—

—

(10)

24

—

89

11

32

(2)

—

59

6

(21)

(17)

5

185

12

13

(35)

—

—

8

(5)

$  366

$  377

$  393

December 31, 2014

Net (loss) 
income

Shareholders’ 
equity

ROE (%)

$  (277)

$  2,106

(13.2)%

$ 

32

278

$ 

32

278

17

4

(2)

61

(10)

(57)

—

17

4

(2)

61

(10)

(57)

956

GAAP, as adjusted for special items

$  46

$ 3,385

1.4 %

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13

December 31, 2013

Net (loss) 
income

Shareholders’ 
equity

ROE (%)

$ 

(639)

$  2,827

(22.6)%

$ 

24

89

11

32

(2)

59

6

(21)

604

(56)

—

$ 

24

89

11

32

(2)

59

6

(21)

604

(56)

210

(in millions, except ROE)

GAAP, as reported

Adjustments for special items:

  Foreign exchange translation loss

  Closure costs, impairment and other related charges

Inventory write-downs related to closures

Start-up costs

  Net gain on disposition of assets

  Net loss on extinguishment of debt

  Transaction costs

  Other income, net

  U.S. deferred income tax asset valuation allowance

Income tax effect of special items

  Cumulative past-year adjustments for special items

GAAP, as adjusted for special items

$ 

107

$  3,783

2.8 %

(in millions, except ROE)

GAAP, as reported

Adjustments for special items:

  Foreign exchange translation gain

Severance costs

  Closure costs, impairment and other related charges

Inventory write-downs related to closures

Start-up costs

  Net gain on disposition of assets

  Transaction costs

  Other income, net

  Reorganization-related and other tax adjustments

Income tax effect of special items

  Noncontrolling interests in special items

  Cumulative past-year adjustments

GAAP, as adjusted for special items

December 31, 2012

Net income

Shareholders’ 
equity

ROE (%)

$ 

1

$  3,102

— %

$ 

(17)

$ 

(17)

5

185

12

13

(35)

8

(5)

(13)

(33)

(35)

—

86

$ 

5

185

12

13

(35)

8

(5)

(13)

(33)

(35)

125

$  3,312

2.6 %

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUSTAINABILITY 
HIGHLIGHTS

14

ENVIRONMENTAL HIGHLIGHTS7

20148

2013

20129

Total environmental incidents

Fuel energy used, TJ

Electricity used: 

  Total purchased, GWh

  Net purchased12, GWh

Self-generated or owned, GWh

Renewable energy, % of total energy (including purchased electricity)
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, thousands of mt CO2e13
Water used14, millions of m3

Water use intensity (m3/mt of saleable pulp or paper produced)

Facilities certified to ISO 14001 EMS15, %
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), mt
Total suspended solids (TSS), mt

Sustainable forest management (SFM) certification16, %

Mills with chain of custody certification in North America17, %

SOCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Employees18 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)  
incident rate per 100 employees19

OSHA severity rate per 200,000 man hours worked20

Lost time incident cases

Recordable injuries21

Employee turnover, %

Employee wages and benefits, $ millions

Donations, $ millions

52

100,217

64

101,219 11

3810

81,376

11,534

10,584

2,864

72

3,545

332

56.3

92

7,858

9,496

100

100

12,032

11,037

2,810

71

3,848

386

65.5

71

7,132

9,457

100

100

11,613

11,538

2,293

68

3,845

354

64.2

67

6,698

8,646

100

100

2014

2013

2012

7,700

8,400 

0.83

33

27

70

11.6

666

1

1.02

25.9

24

90

11.7

734

0.9

9,100

1.13

34.01

38

107

12.5

775

1.2

ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS

2014

2013

2012

Actual external sales of electricity produced from  
cogeneration facilities, GWh/year

Sales of AlignTM papers, % of total specialty paper sales

Indirect employees23

950
19.9 22

801

4

152

5

25,025

27,300

29,575

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
15

7.  Environmental data is for pulp and paper mills only, except for environmental incidents, which also include sawmills. 

8.  The information is preliminary and subject to change; data will be confirmed on our website this summer. 

9.  With the exception of environmental incidents, data does not include performance in respect of the three former Fibrek mills: Saint-Félicien (Quebec),  

Fairmont (West Virginia) and Menominee (Michigan), acquired in mid-August 2012.

10.  Environmental incident reporting has changed over time, moving from a system divided by classes to a total incident count. Our 2012 data is based on information 

collected through the old system, which only considered certain classes of incidents. 

11.  The increase in fuel energy consumption between 2012 and 2013 is mostly attributable to the addition of the three former Fibrek mills acquired in mid-August 2012,  

the restart of operations at our Dolbeau (Quebec) mill in October 2012 and that of our Gatineau (Quebec) mill in May 2013, and the launch of our Thunder Bay (Ontario) 
cogeneration facility in March 2013.

12.  Represents purchased electricity, minus actual external sales of electricity produced from cogeneration facilities.

13.  GHG emission figures include scope 1 GHG emissions (combustion, landfill, process and fugitive emissions) as well as scope 2 GHG emissions  
(emissions from consumption of purchased electricity and steam) that physically occur at the facility where electricity or steam is generated. 

14.  Resolute returns more than 95% of the water it withdraws. The balance remains within products or evaporates during the manufacturing process.

15.  At the end of 2014, 21 out of 22 pulp and paper mills, 16 out of 18 wood products facilities and 8 out of 9 woodlands operations had an ISO 14001-certified EMS.

16.  All of the forests we manage are certified to at least to one of three internationally recognized sustainable forest management (SFM) certification standards:  

Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®), Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) or CSA Group (CSA).

17.  Resolute has instituted fiber-tracking systems at all of our facilities, and all tracking systems are third-party certified according to one or more of three internationally 

recognized chain of custody (CoC) standards: FSC, SFI or Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).

18.  Excluding the unconsolidated entities in which we have non-controlling interests.

19.  Health and safety statistics are calculated for all employees, with the exception of near-miss reporting, which is only applied to employees at operating sites. 

20. The severity rate is calculated by adding the number of workdays lost to the number of restricted workdays due to injury, multiplied by 200,000 hours worked,  

divided by total number of hours worked.

21.  Recordable injuries do not include minor, first-aid level incidents.

22.  In 2014, two new grades were added to the Align family of products (Hybrid and Alternative) as the facility where they are produced switched to lower emission fuels  

to improve environmental performance. 

23.  Research by the Economic Policy Institute indicates that for every 100 jobs in the paper industry, 325 additional jobs are supported in supplier industries and  

in local communities due to the re-spending of wages.

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT16

OUR VISION

At Resolute Forest Products, we are one team with one vision  
where profitability and sustainability drive our future. 

OUR VALUES

WORK SAFELY

ENSURE SUSTAINABILITY

We always put the safety of our people 
first. Creating an injury-free workplace 
is everyone’s business. We maintain 
world-class standards and continuously 
measure and improve our safety efforts 
and results. 

We make decisions with tomorrow 
in mind. We know that our long-term 
profitability depends on preserving the 
natural resources in our care and being a 
responsible partner in the communities 
where we live and work. 

BE ACCOUNTABLE

SUCCEED TOGETHER

We are accountable for our performance. 
The future of our company is in our hands. 
By empowering people, acting with 
integrity, setting goals and measuring 
progress, we deliver first-class products 
and services to customers and create 
value for shareholders. 

We win together. Teamwork starts with 
a winning attitude and a true desire to 
support each other. We welcome ideas, 
communicate frequently and share  
best practices.

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
17

BUSINESS AND SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY

At Resolute, we report our business and sustainability results together.  
Our sustainability strategy has been purposely developed to align  
our efforts in environmental stewardship and social responsibility  
with our business strategy and objectives. This approach underpins our vision  
that profitability and sustainability drive our future.

Our business strategy includes a gradual retreat from certain paper grades and the use of our strong 
financial position to diversify and grow. This strategy focuses on three core themes:

1

We strive for operational 
excellence by improving our 
performance and our margins.

2

We use a disciplined approach 
to capital spending by building 
on our position as a lower cost 
producer, continuously looking 
for ways to reduce overhead.

3

We take an opportunistic 
approach to strategic initiatives, 
pursuing only those that reduce 
our cost position, improve our 
product diversification, provide 
synergies or allow us to expand 
into future growth markets.

Our sustainability strategy is based on a balanced approach to environmental, social and economic 
performance designed to enhance our competitive position. And like our business strategy, it has  
three primary areas of focus:

4

5

We reinforce our environmental 
credentials by taking  
appropriate steps to manage  
our environmental footprint. 

We strive to attract and retain  
the best employees by creating 
the right work environment in 
order to position Resolute as  
a competitive employer.

6

We work and live in dozens of 
communities that depend on 
the forest for their economic 
and social viability. For Resolute, 
building solid community 
relations is essential to our  
long-term success, and to  
the regional prosperity of  
these communities.

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORTOUR 
OPERATIONS

QUEBEC, CANADA

Corporate office

Customer service

Pulp/paper

Wood products

Energy

18

Comtois

Senneterre

Amos

Opitciwan

Saint-Thomas

Girardville

Normandin

La Doré

Saint-Félicien

Saint-Prime

Baie-Comeau

Outardes

Dolbeau

Mistassini

Produits Forestiers Petit-Paris

Alma

Kénogami

Clermont

Saint-Hilarion

Larouche

Hydro-Saguenay

Château-Richer

Produits Forestiers Mauricie

Ponderay, WA

Maniwaki

Montréal

Gatineau

ONTARIO, CANADA

EASTERN UNITED STATES

Ignace

Atikokan

Thunder Bay

Menominee, MI

Thorold

Fairmont, WV

SOUTH KOREA

WESTERN UNITED STATES

Calhoun, TN

Ponderay, WA

Grenada, MS

Coosa Pines, AL

Catawba, SC

Augusta, GA

 Mokpo

Menominee, MI

Fairmont, WV

Calhoun, TN

Catawba, SC

Grenada, MS

Coosa Pines, AL

Augusta, GA

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT19

BUSINESS SEGMENTS

NEWSPRINT
SPECIALTY PAPERS
MARKET PULP
WOOD PRODUCTS

BUSINESS SEGMENTS 

20

BEYOND  
THE FRONT PAGE

WE HAVE THE CAPACITY  
TO MEET YOUR NEEDS

Resolute is a leading global producer 
of top-quality newsprint. With mills 
strategically located to serve major 
markets throughout North America  
and abroad, we supply customers  
in some 80 countries. 

We produce newsprint at 10 facilities 
in North America and one facility in 
South Korea. With total capacity of 
approximately 2.6 million metric tons,  
or 9% of worldwide capacity, we are  
the largest producer of newsprint in  
the world. We are also the largest  
North American producer of newsprint, 
with North American capacity of  
2.4 million metric tons, or approximately 
41% of total North American capacity. 

We sell newsprint to newspaper 
publishers all over the world and also to 
commercial printers in North America 
for uses such as inserts and flyers. 

In 2014, shipments to North American 
markets represented 60% of total 
newsprint shipments.

NEWSPRINT

Every day our newsprint routinely makes the front pages of some of the world’s  
top newspapers. But there’s more to the story. Advertising brochures, circulars, inserts 
and directories. We provide companies and their customers with a way to connect. 

INVESTING IN THE BROADER  
ASIAN NEWSPRINT MARKET

In June 2014, we announced a  
$10 million investment at our Mokpo, 
South Korea, paper mill to upgrade the 
facility’s newsprint machine. This is a 
commitment not only to the Mokpo mill 
and the South Korean marketplace  
but also to the broader Asian market. 
Built in 1995, Resolute’s Mokpo mill is 
the newest paper mill in South Korea 
and has an annual production capacity 
of 200,000 metric tons. The upgrades 
and improvements will enhance the 
quality of the paper and help better 
position the mill to compete. 

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT21

Ken McIlwain, Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill

● ON SUSTAINABILITY

Our recycled newsprint mills in Thorold 
(Ontario) and Mokpo (South Korea) are 
located near urban areas that have more 
readily accessible supplies of recovered 
paper. Our mills that are located in 
more remote areas use wood chips from 
nearby sawmills to produce newsprint, 
making efficient use of this readily 
available local by-product of stud and 
dimension lumber production. 

● MARKET TRENDS

TOTAL N.A. NEWSPRINT DEMAND
(millions of metric tons)

2014 WORLD NEWSPRINT CHANGE  
IN DEMAND BY GEOGRAPHIC MARKET
(% change over 2013)

2014 NEWSPRINT DEMAND DISTRIBUTION
(millions of metric tons)

5.8

5.4

5.0

4.9

4.5

4.1

a
c
i
r
e
m
A
n
i
t
a
L

a
c
i
r
e
m
A
h
t
r
o
N

d
l
r
o
W

a
i
s
A

e
p
o
r
u
E
n
r
e
t
s
a
E

e
p
o
r
u
E
n
r
e
t
s
e
W

2009

2010

2011

2012 2013

2014

(6.0%)

(7.4%)

(7.6%)

(7.6%)

(9.2%)

(9.0%)

Source: Pulp and Paper Products Council (PPPC)

● Asia
47%
● Western Europe
23%
● North America
16%
● Latin America
5%
● Eastern Europe
5%
● Other
4%
Total world demand 26.0 100%

12 .1
6.1
4.1
1.4
1.3
1.0

 
 
 
 
22

BUSINESS SEGMENTS 

MAKING  
AN IMPRESSION

Good printing will always draw attention 
and we have the paper to prove it.  
Our specialty coated and uncoated 
paper grades are used to make 
magazines, catalogs, direct mail, inserts, 
instruction manuals, books, directories, 
maps, advertising inserts and flyers. 

We produce specialty papers at  
five facilities in North America.  
Our specialty papers segment is 
composed of uncoated mechanical 
papers, including supercalendered, 
super-bright, high-bright, bulky book  
and directory papers, as well as  
coated mechanical papers. 

With total capacity of approximately  
1.1 million metric tons, or approximately 
27% of total North American capacity, 
we are the largest producer of  
uncoated mechanical papers in  
North America, and the third largest in 
the world. Also, with 435,000 metric 
tons of capacity, or approximately 14% 
of total North American capacity, we are 
North America’s third largest producer 
of coated mechanical papers. We sell 
specialty papers to major commercial 
printers, direct mailers, publishers, 
catalogers and retailers, mostly in  
North America.

SPECIALTY PAPERS

From the bestseller you just can’t put down to the magazines  
on your coffee table and the flyers in your mailbox,  
our specialty papers deliver exceptional printability. 

● MARKET TRENDS

TOTAL N.A. UNCOATED  
MECHANICAL DEMAND
(millions of short tons)

5.5

5.6

5.1

4.3

4.4

4.2

2009

2010

2011

2012 2013

2014

Source: PPPC

2014 TOTAL CHANGE IN N.A. UNCOATED 
MECHANICAL DEMAND, BY GRADE
(% change over 2013)

2014 N.A. UNCOATED MECHANICAL DEMAND 
DISTRIBUTION, BY GRADE
(thousands of short tons)

SC-B/
SNC+
3.5%

(4.6%)
Total

(3.9%) 
STD

(5.2%) 
SC-A/
A+

(19.5%)
LW

● STD
● SC-A/A+
● SC-B/SNC+
● LW

1,830
1,360
721
321

43%
32%
17%
8%

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT23
23

From left to right: Marco Pelletier,  
Rosaire Simard and Robert Simard,  
Kénogami paper mill

● ON SUSTAINABILITY

Align™ paper grades are made with  
up to 50% less wood fiber compared 
to freesheet paper, and have an 
environmental footprint 35% to 85% 
smaller than that of the average 
freesheet grade. In addition, by 
delivering higher opacity and bulk at 
a lower basis weight than traditional 
freesheet, Align helps reduce paper, 
postage and transportation costs.

N.A. COATED MECHANICAL  
PAPER DEMAND
(millions of short tons)

N.A. COATED MECHANICAL  
PAPER IMPORTS
(thousands of short tons)

4.4

4.5

4.1

4.0

3.7

3.5

719

506

439

496

444

316

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Source: PPPC

BUSINESS SEGMENTS  
SPECIALTY PAPERS (CONTINUED)

24

FROM HIGH-IMPACT ADVERTISING 
TO BEST-SELLING BOOKS

Many of North America’s top retailers 
rely on Resolute’s coated and 
supercalendered papers to help ensure 
that their flyers, inserts and catalogs 
make a great impression. Our Catawba 
mill, in South Carolina, produces an 
impressive line of coated mechanical 
papers in a variety of brightnesses  
and finishes for catalogs, magazines  
and retail inserts. 

We also offer the widest range of 
book papers of any North American 
manufacturer. With different  
calipers, shades, basis weights and 
brightnesses, our book papers provide 
us with a competitive advantage in  
the marketplace. From coloring 
books, mass market paperbacks and 
tradebooks to educational workbooks 
and hardcover books, we have a  
paper product to fit just about any  
book publishing need.

A NEW PAPER GRADE  
THAT CONNECTS QUALITY  
WITH COST EFFECTIVENESS 

We call it the Connect Effect.  
That’s when our customers receive 
fast delivery of Connect™, our new 
commodity offset grade, at a price their 
bottom line appreciates. Produced 
in Tennessee at our state-of-the-art 
Calhoun operation, Resolute Connect is 
made from 100% kraft pulp and exhibits 
excellent runnability and printability 
characteristics. With high opacity, this 
paper is perfect for many commercial 
printing end uses. 

GROWING OUR ALIGN  
ECO-FRIENDLY BRAND

In 2014, we continued to expand 
our Align brand of environmentally 
responsible and budget-friendly papers 
by adding two more super-brite grades, 
Hybrid and Alternative, to our existing 
offerings of Ecopaque, Equal Offset and 
ResoluteMax. The new Hybrid grades 
are used for commercial printing such 
as comics, direct mail, directories, 
envelopes, inserts and manuals. 
Alternative Offset papers are ideal for 
a variety of print applications, including 
book publishing, financial printing, 
annual reports and direct mail. 

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
 
 
25

Steeve Audet, Kénogami paper mill

26

BUSINESS SEGMENTS 

A MAJOR PULP  
PRODUCER

We are one of the few producers 
capable of supplying a wide variety  
of different grades of market pulp.  
And each of these has unique 
properties that make them ideal  
choices for particular applications.

We produce market pulp at seven 
facilities in North America, with a total 
capacity of approximately 1.7 million 
metric tons – or approximately 11% of 
total North American capacity – making 
us the third largest pulp producer in 
North America. Approximately 80%  
of our virgin pulp capacity is softwood-
based: northern bleached softwood 
kraft pulp (NBSK), southern bleached 
softwood kraft pulp (SBSK) and  
fluff pulp. 

In 2014, Resolute launched a 
$105-million project to upgrade  
the Calhoun (Tennessee) pulp mill.  
A new continuous digester will enable 
the mill to produce an additional 
100,000 metric tons of market pulp 
each year. This world-class equipment 
will also significantly lower the mill’s 
overall costs and improve the quality  
of its pulp and paper products. 

We are also the largest producer of 
recycled bleached kraft pulp (RBK) and 
a competitive producer of northern 
bleached hardwood kraft pulp (NBHK) 
and southern bleached hardwood kraft 
pulp (SBHK). Wood pulp is the most 
commonly used material to make paper. 
Pulp not converted into paper is sold 
as market pulp, which is used to make a 
range of consumer products, including 
tissue, packaging, specialty paper 
products, diapers and other absorbent 
products. Approximately 26% of our 
2014 market pulp shipments were 
exported outside of North America, 
including significant exports to Europe, 
Asia and Latin America. 

MARKET PULP

Our pulp, a renewable and biodegradable material, is a key ingredient  
in making products we use every day. You’ll find it in everything from  
tissues to paper towels, coffee filters, disposable diapers and other  
absorbent products, as well as printing and writing papers. 

PULP FOR A  
VARIETY OF NEEDS

We offer a complete spectrum of 
chemical pulp products with high-
quality performance characteristics  
that meet diverse customer needs. 

Softwood kraft pulp: Our softwood  
kraft pulp has structural properties  
that provide exceptional strength.  
Minimal energy is needed to refine 
the pulp, which is favored for use in 
manufacturing tissues and paper towels, 
as well as printing and writing papers.

Hardwood kraft pulp: Key features 
of hardwood pulp include excellent 
cleanliness, formation and surface 
properties, complemented by good  
bulk and opacity. These characteristics 
are ideal for tissue and paper towels,  
as well as printing and writing papers. 

Recycled bleached kraft pulp: Our 
fully dried recycled bleached kraft pulp 
can be manufactured with different 
brightness levels and is used in tissues 
and paper towels, printing and writing 
papers, as well as in food packaging 
applications.

Fluff pulp: Produced in the southern 
United States from loblolly pine, our  
fluff pulp offers excellent absorbency 
and wicking features that make it 
ideal for producing diapers and other 
absorbent products.

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT27

Bobby Willis, Sr., Catawba pulp and paper mill

● ON SUSTAINABILITY

In 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA) confirmed that our  
RBK-LF pulp (recycled bleached kraft  
– low fluorescence) produced at our mills  
in Menominee (Michigan) and Fairmont 
(West Virginia) is suitable for use in coated 
paper and paperboard grades intended  
for use in contact with food. Now we can 
serve a new market with even more options  
when it comes to using recycled fiber. 

● MARKET TRENDS

2014 WORLD CHEMICAL PULP DEMAND
(% change over 2013)

8.9%

2014 WORLD CHEMICAL PULP  
DEMAND DISTRIBUTION, BY GRADE
(millions of metric tons)

2014 WORLD CHEMICAL PULP  
DEMAND DISTRIBUTION, BY REGION
(millions of metric tons)

5.3%

3.4%

3.4%

1.5%

d
l
r
o
W

(0.5%) 0.2% 0.2%

0.4%

e
p
o
r
u
E
n
r
e
t
s
e
W

a
c
i
r
e
m
A
h
t
r
o
N

a
c
i
r
f
A
/

a
i
s
A
r
e
h
t
O

n
a
p
a
J

i

a
n
a
e
c
O

i

a
n
h
C

a
c
i
r
e
m
A
n
i
t
a
L

e
p
o
r
u
E
n
r
e
t
s
a
E

Source: PPPC

● Eucalyptus
● NBSK
● Other
● SBSK
● NBHK
● SBHK
Total world demand

20.5
14.0
9.3
6.4
4.4
1.1

37%
25%
17%
11%
8%
2%

55.7 100%

● China 
● Western Europe
● Other Asia / Africa
● North America
● Latin America
● Eastern Europe
● Japan
● Oceania
Total world demand

16.1
15.7
8.2
7.7
3.4
2.2
2.2
0.3

29%
28%
15%
14%
6%
4%
4%
–

55.8 100%

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BUSINESS SEGMENTS 

A NATURAL  
CHOICE

Resolute is a major producer of lumber 
and other wood products for the 
residential construction and home 
renovation markets, as well as for 
specialized structural and industrial 
applications.

28

We operate 15 sawmills in Canada that 
produce construction-grade lumber 
sold in North America, mostly on the 
East Coast. Our sawmills produce stud 
and dimension spruce-pine-fir (SPF) 
lumber and are a major source of  
wood chips for our pulp and paper mills 
and wood waste we use to fuel  
our power cogeneration assets and 
other operations. In 2014, we shipped 
1.5 billion board feet of construction-
grade lumber within North America.

In Canada, we also operate two 
remanufactured wood products facilities 
that produce bed-frame components, 
finger joints and furring strips, two  
joint-venture engineered wood 
products facilities that produce I-joists 
for the construction industry, and a 
wood pellet plant. 

WOOD PRODUCTS

Building techniques can change, but wood is always part of the plan.  
From framing lumber to flooring and roofing components, you’ll find  
Resolute’s wood products on the job in new home construction and renovations.

INVESTING IN  
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO

As part of a C$90 million investment 
in Ontario, we built a wood pellet plant 
at our Thunder Bay sawmill site, which 
began operation in October 2014.  
At full capacity, the facility will produce 
50,000 metric tons of pellets annually 
from residual sawdust, a by-product  
of the sawmill. The plant is under  
a ten-year contract to supply  
45,000 metric tons of pellets annually 
to Ontario Power Generation’s  
Atikokan Generating Station, which  
was converted from coal-burning  
to wood pellets.

Resolute’s significant investment in 
Northwestern Ontario includes the 
refurbishment of the Ignace sawmill, 
which restarted in the fourth quarter 
of 2014. Idled since 2006, the facility 
has seen several upgrades to existing 
equipment and is expected to reach  
its productivity target by year-end.  
Work continues on the construction  
of the new Atikokan sawmill, which is  
expected to begin ramping up in  
the second quarter of this year.  

The new and upgraded Northwestern 
Ontario facilities will have a total annual 
production capacity of 260 million 
board feet. 

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT29

Peter Pajunen, Thunder Bay sawmill

● ON SUSTAINABILITY

We adhere to strict, internationally recognized sustainable 
forest management (SFM) and chain of custody (CoC) standards 
that provide customers with the assurance that the wood fiber 
we use originates from responsibly managed forests. All of 
the woodlands we manage or on which we hold significant 
harvesting rights are third-party certified to at least one of 
three globally recognized standards: FSC, SFI and CSA. And we 
have implemented fiber-tracking systems at all of our facilities 
that are also third-party certified to one or more internationally 
recognized CoC standards, namely FSC, SFI and PEFC.

● MARKET TRENDS

NEW PRIVATELY OWNED HOUSING UNITS STARTED
(millions of units)

2.1

2.0

1.8

1.7

1.6

1.8

1.4

0.9

0.6

0.6

0.6

0.9

1.0

0.8

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

30

Sustainability Performance
Fiber and Forestry
Lasting Collaboration with First Nations
Engaging in Dialogue
Energy and Climate Change
Mill Environmental Performance
Human Resources
Health and Safety
Community Involvement
Recognizing the Contributions of Our Employees

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT

SUSTAINABILITY  
PERFORMANCE

BUILDING A  
SUSTAINABLE FUTURE 

WORKING WITH  
OUR STAKEHOLDERS 

31

At Resolute, we believe that 
sustainability helps us build and 
enhance our competitiveness and 
long-term profitability. This relationship 
between sustainability and financial 
performance is reflected in our 
company’s vision, our corporate values 
and the way we do business every day. 

We balance the three pillars of 
sustainability – environmental, social 
and economic – to become not only a 
more efficient company, but a better 
employer, a stronger partner for our 
customers and more deeply engaged  
in the communities in which we live  
and work. 

This is our third annual report 
combining both financial and 
sustainability performance reporting. 
A more detailed review of our 
sustainability activities will be  
available on our website this summer. 
This combined report reflects  
our vision that sustainability and  
profitability drive our future.

We are committed to building solid 
relationships with a broad range of 
stakeholders by maintaining ongoing 
outreach and developing strategic 
partnerships through a variety  
of formal and informal channels.  
We are open to discussion and value 
input from customers and various 
interested parties, including employees,  
First Nations, environmental and other 
non-governmental organizations  
((E)NGOs), business partners, 
governments, investors and  
members of the general public. 

Through our information-sharing 
program, for example, we build and 
maintain strong relationships with 
community leaders in our operating 
locations. These groups meet regularly 
to provide a forum for discussing a 
range of issues of mutual interest 
to participants – from harvest area 
allocation and energy conservation  
to controls for noise pollution. 

We also focus on developing 
constructive relationships with  
First Nations, with whom we share a 
common interest in ensuring that our 
forests continue to provide for future 
generations. A key aspect of this focus 
is to engage in dialogue with chiefs, 
councils and elders in communities in 
our operating areas to ensure that the 
company takes local environmental, 
social and economic considerations  
into account.

Working together is the best way to 
foster trust with First Nations and 
individuals that are most directly 
impacted by our operations, as well as 
the groups that share our interest in 
managing forests sustainably over  
the long term.

 
32

SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENTS 
AND PERFORMANCE 

In 2011, we established a set of 
ambitious sustainability commitments 
reflecting our approach to balancing 
environmental, economic and social 
priorities. Since then, we have been 
tracking and reporting on our progress 
annually with a view to achieving, or 
surpassing, the vast majority of our 
targets before the end of 2015.

Our year-over-year performance has 
steadily improved, and we continue to 
build on a solid base of what we believe 
are meaningful accomplishments.  
The following table provides a summary 
of our performance for 2014.

 SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE (CONTINUED)

Based on the material issues identified 
by our stakeholders, Resolute created a 
sustainability strategy that drives all of 
our company’s sustainability activities 
and serves as the framework for public 
commitments.

SCOPE AND  
GOVERNANCE 

We report sustainability performance 
data for all the operations we owned  
or operated as at December 31, 2014.  
Our 2014 sustainability performance 
data is preliminary and subject to 
change. The information presented  
in this report will be confirmed on  
our website this summer. The website  
will also include other sustainability  
performance indicators and disclosures 
prepared in accordance with the  
GRI’s G4 guidelines.

While the overall responsibility for 
our sustainability performance resides 
with our president and chief executive 
officer, we rely on our sustainability 
committee to ensure that we deliver on 
our key commitments and implement 
our strategies.

The sustainability committee is a 
cross-functional group comprised 
of senior managers from various 
departments, including sales, human 
resources, purchasing, engineering 
and environment. It is accountable 
to the executive team and is chaired 
by the vice president, corporate 
communications, sustainability  
and government affairs.

The sustainability committee 
recommends strategies, sets goals, 
measures results, oversees reporting, 
communications and continuous 
improvement, and assesses stakeholder 
expectations and sustainability trends. 
The committee is also responsible 
for providing project oversight on 
the company’s key sustainability 
commitments.

DEFINING ISSUES OF HIGH CONCERN 
FOR OUR STAKEHOLDERS

We report sustainability performance 
on issues we consider to be material, 
based on a detailed analysis completed 
in 2010 as part of our first Global 
Reporting Initiative (GRI) disclosure. 

Resolute defines as “material” 
sustainability issues that are of high 
concern to internal and external 
stakeholders and have the potential  
to impact our business performance. 

From the start, our work on determining 
material issues was focused on 
improving our understanding of 
stakeholder information requirements. 
Assessments were conducted to 
identify the issues that mattered most 
for monitoring and reporting. As part 
of that process, we commissioned 
an independent third party to 
conduct interviews with members 
of the research community, industry, 
government, customers, (E)NGOs, 
organized labor and investors. 

In 2013, a materiality assessment update 
was conducted to ensure that the issues 
identified in 2010 continued to be of 
great importance and impact to our 
stakeholders. As a result of this update, 
three additional issues were identified 
as material: First Nations relations and 
economic partnerships, conservation 
and protected areas, and transparency 
and communication. 2014 is the first 
year we will be reporting our progress 
on the public commitments associated 
with these new issues. 

It is important to note that material 
issues do not encompass all the issues 
we address. For example, issues 
that require compliance but are not 
identified as material to a stakeholder 
group are still monitored and reported 
on internally, but are not detailed in  
this report.

As well, the materiality of issues can 
change over time. Some may lose 
importance as they are of lower 
immediate concern to stakeholders 
and the company. Our objective is to 
monitor materiality on a continuous 
basis, for example, through regular 
interaction with stakeholders.

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORTSUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE
CARBON/ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

33

STRATEGIC AREA OF PRIMARY 
SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS

COMMITMENTS

PERFORMANCE IN 2014

2014 
RATING

Reinforce our  
environmental credentials,  
taking appropriate steps  
to responsibly manage our 
environmental footprint

MOST MATERIAL ISSUES  
AFFECTING BUSINESS

•	 Sustainable	forest	management	 

(to	third-party	certification	 
standards)

•	 Fiber	supply	access
•	 Biodiversity
•	 Conservation	and	 
protected	areas
•	 GHG	emissions
•	 Energy	consumption
•	 Water	consumption	and	 

protection	of	water	resources

•	 Environmental	regulatory	 

compliance

•	 Environmental	incidents

LEGEND

++ Surpassed	target
+ Achieved	key	milestone
= Maintained	achievement
> Ongoing	progress
x Target	unattained
– Changed	circumstances

Maintain 100% certification of 
Resolute-managed woodlands to 
sustainable forest management (SFM) 
certification standards

•  100% of managed forests certified  

to Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®), 
Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) 
and/or CSA Group (CSA)

Maintain chain of custody certification, 
either to FSC, SFI or Programme  
for the Endorsement of Forest 
Certification (PEFC) at all North 
American pulp and paper mills and 
wood products facilities under 
company management

Increase FSC forest certification  
of managed forests from 18% in 2010 
to 80% by 2015

•  Instituted fiber-tracking systems at all  

North American facilities, all of which are 
third-party certified according to one or  
more of three internationally recognized  
CoC standards, namely FSC, SFI and PEFC

•  A specific FSC target is no longer realistic or 

appropriate considering recent developments 
and interpretations, as more fully described 
on page 38 

•  Resolute remains committed to 100% 
certification to one or more of three 
internationally recognized sustainable  
forest management standards, inclusive  
of FSC, SFI and CSA

=

=

–

Achieve a 65% absolute reduction of 
scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2015 
over the 2000 base year 

•  Reduced total GHG emissions by 67.5%  

since 2000, surpassing 65% reduction target 
two years ahead of schedule

++

Implement standard scope 3 GHG 
accounting and begin full scope 324 
reporting by 2015

•  Significant progress towards full reporting  

in 2015, including the development of 
preliminary GHG scope 3 emission  
inventories for 2012, 2013 and 2014 

•  Implemented a tracking system to  

measure emissions from our supply chain  
and product transportation to customers

Provide disclosure on regulatory 
infractions in our woodlands 
operations and set a target for  
annual infractions, with a long-term 
goal of zero infractions 

•  Timely disclosure of regulatory infractions in 

our annual and sustainability reporting

•  Set annual target of 3 or less internally 
identified situations that could lead to 
regulatory infractions in each province

Continue to improve our 
understanding of our water footprint; 
continue to voluntarily report to the 
Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) 
Water Disclosure program 

Reduce environmental incidents  
by 10% in 2014 compared to  
the 2013 baseline, with a long-term 
goal of zero incidents

Implement ISO 14001-certified 
environmental management system 
(EMS) at all our pulp and paper,  
sawmill and woodlands operations

•  Voluntarily reported to CDP  
Water Disclosure program

•  Recorded 52 environmental incidents  

in 2014, a reduction of 19% compared to  
the 2013 baseline 

•  Established 2015 target of 8% reduction  

over 2014 baseline 

•  ISO 14001–certified EMS implemented at all 
pulp and paper mills except Menominee mill, 
all Canadian woodlands operations and all 
wood products facilities25, except recently 
opened Ignace sawmill and under-
construction Atikokan sawmill 

>

+

=

++

>

24.  The indirect greenhouse gas emissions listed in scope 3 include all indirect emissions not covered in scope 2, such as emissions from the production  

of purchased materials or transportation activities not controlled by the company.

25.  Does not include nonconsolidated entitites: Opitciwan (Quebec) and Produits Forestiers Petit-Paris (Quebec) sawmills.

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE
PUBLIC ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

34

STRATEGIC AREA OF PRIMARY 
SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS

COMMITMENTS

PERFORMANCE IN 2014

2014 
RATING

Build solid community 
relations, recognizing that 
economically viable and 
civically involved companies  
support long-term regional 
prosperity

Reinforce our  
environmental credentials, 
taking appropriate steps  
to responsibly manage our 
environmental footprint

MOST MATERIAL ISSUES  
AFFECTING BUSINESS

•	 Community	and	 

stakeholder	engagement

•	 First	Nations	and	 

economic	partnerships

•	 Transparency	and	 
communications

By end of 2015, enhance 
information-sharing 
community groups at all 
company operations;  
embed community 
stakeholder outreach  
efforts across organization, 
sharing best practices  
and monitoring activities

Identify business 
opportunities with  
First Nations and identify 
means to increase  
Aboriginal employment

Make yearly charitable 
contributions with emphasis 
on environmental 
stewardship, and health  
and education programs 

Ensure and sustain  
ongoing outreach with 
stakeholders and develop  
key strategic partnerships

Develop innovative products 
that help our customers 
reduce their environmental 
footprint

•  Established information-sharing community groups,  

covering all North American locations, one year ahead 
of schedule

•  We are continuing to work on institutionalizing 
stakeholder outreach across the company,  
promoting open discussions and enhancing  
the value proposition for all involved participants 

•  In addition to other partnerships, signed economic 

benefit sharing agreements worth about C$100 million 
with First Nations in Northwestern Ontario – linked to 
the opening of the Atikokan and Ignace sawmills

•  Also committed to wood supply contract with the 

Mashteuiatsh community in Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec

•  Collaborative agreements currently under discussion 

with several First Nations communities

•  Made charitable contributions of approximately  

$1 million 

•  Maintained regular engagement with key stakeholder 

groups such as employees/unions, investors, 
governments, (E)NGOs, First Nations, local 
communities, suppliers/partners and customers

•  Maintained partnerships with WWF® Climate Savers 
program, Forces AVENIR, the Innu community of 
Mashteuiatsh, among others 

•  Continued Forum boréal activities in Quebec and 

launched Boreal Forum in Ontario – two fact-based 
online platforms to facilitate an open and constructive 
conversation on sustainable forest management  
in the boreal forest

•  Added two new super-brite grades under  

the AlignTM umbrella – Hybrid and Alternative 

•  Launched joint venture with Mercer International Inc. 

(Performance BioFilaments Inc.) to develop  
commercial applications for cellulose filaments 

•  U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed that  

our recycled bleached kraft pulp is suitable for use in 
polycoated paper and paperboard grades intended  
for use in contact with food

•  Opened Thunder Bay wood pellet plant, which at  

capacity will produce 50,000 metric tons of pellets 
annually from residual sawdust collected at the 
adjacent Thunder Bay sawmill 

LEGEND

++ Surpassed	target
+ Achieved	key	milestone
= Maintained	achievement
> Ongoing	progress
x Target	unattained
– Changed	circumstances

Maintain effective 
sustainability oversight and 
management practices

•  Sustainability committee continues to monitor 

sustainability performance and recommend areas  
for improvement

Maintain annual sustainability 
reporting practices and 
transparency

•  Issued third combined annual report with substantial 

sustainability content; fourth GRI-compliant reporting 
to be launched online in 2015

Roll out communications on 
our Supplier Guidelines and 
measure dissemination

•  Developed and re-communicated Supplier Guidelines 
to about 150 top suppliers, representing over 25% of 
our annual purchasing spend 

>

=

=

=

+

=
=
>

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE
DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES AND LABOR RELATIONS

STRATEGIC AREA OF PRIMARY 
SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS

Position Resolute as a 
competitive employer, 
attracting and retaining 
employees based on 
opportunities to quickly 
learn and grow within a 
dynamic organization

MOST MATERIAL ISSUES  
AFFECTING BUSINESS

•	 Workforce	turnover	and	 

recruitment	needs

•	 Labor	relations	
•	 Pension	obligations
•	 Code	of	conduct	and	 

business	ethics

•	 Impact	of	entering	and	exiting	

operating	communities

•	 Employee	health	and	safety

LEGEND

++ Surpassed	target
+ Achieved	key	milestone
= Maintained	achievement
> Ongoing	progress
x Target	unattained
– Changed	circumstances

COMMITMENTS

PERFORMANCE IN 2014

Through 2015, implement new  
human resource practices to support 
workforce renewal and retention,  
and engage employees in company’s 
sustainability-focused vision and values

•  Hired 1,089 new employees and raised 

company profile as a competitive employer 
through new recruitment practices 

•  Continued to support internship and  

co-op programs, and launched strategic 
organization initiative, an integrated 
leadership system to monitor performance 
effectiveness

Renew expired or expiring collective 
agreements at pulp, paper and wood 
products operations, ensuring our 
competitiveness as an employer while 
supporting our long-term viability

•  Successfully negotiated master agreements 
with 4 U.S. and 10 Canadian pulp and paper 
mills, 4 Quebec sawmills and with the  
recently opened Ignace sawmill in Ontario

Train 100% of employees on our new 
Code of Business Conduct; provide 
additional training on anti-bribery, 
corruption and whistleblower 
programs

•  Trained 100% of employees on the new  

Code of Business Conduct (which 
incorporates the whistleblower program) 

•  Employees are required to re-sign  

the code on an annual basis 

•  Additional trainings on the anti-bribery and 

corruption programs are scheduled for 2015 
for targeted groups of employees

Roll out communications on  
new diversity, equal employment,  
anti-discrimination and harassment 
policies

•  Effectively communicated new diversity,  

equal employment, anti-discrimination and 
harassment policies to 100% of employees 

Achieve an Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration (OSHA)  
incident rate of 0.99 or below for 2014, 
with a long-term goal of zero injuries; 
achieve a severity rate of 27 or below 
in 2014; increase disclosure around 
our near-miss reporting26

•  Achieved an OSHA incident rate of 0.83  

but a severity rate result of 3327

•  Set 2015 targets to achieve an OSHA  

rate of 0.95 or below and a severity rate  
of less than or equal to 27 

•  Increased disclosure on near-miss ratios, 
management and reporting systems  
in annual report

Ensure each employee submits  
2 to 3 near-miss reports annually

•  Achieved an average near-miss per employee 

ratio of 3.8, surpassing the target of  
2 to 3 annual reports per employee

35

2014 
RATING

>

>

>

+

>

26.  Health and safety statistics are calculated for all employees, with the exception of near-miss reporting, which is only applied to employees at operating sites.

27.  The severity rate is calculated by adding the number of workdays lost to the number of restricted workdays due to injury, multiplied by 200,000 hours worked, 

divided by total number of hours worked.

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
 
 
FIBER  
AND FORESTRY

Resolute’s commitment to producing 
quality products that meet the 
criteria of today’s environmentally 
conscious stakeholders begins with 
responsible fiber sourcing. This entails 
the responsible management of forests 
entrusted to our care, careful tracking 
of wood fiber sources, and use of 
recycled fiber.

Forest certification and fiber tracking 
help to ensure the sustainability of our 
fiber supply and other forest values. 
Strict adherence to internationally 
recognized sustainable forest 
management (SFM) and chain of 
custody (CoC) standards assures our 
customers that the wood fiber we use 
comes from responsible sources.

2014 highlights of our work in 
responsible forest management  
and wood fiber sourcing include:

•  100% of the woodlands we  

manage are third-party certified  
to internationally recognized  
SFM standards. 

•  88.8% of the wood supply for our 
sawmills and 47.3% of virgin wood 
fiber inputs for our pulp and  
paper mills are SFM-certified.

•  40% of total fiber inputs for our pulp 

and paper mills are sourced from 
sawmill by-products (wood chips).

•  11.9% of total fiber inputs for our pulp 

and paper mills are sourced from 
recovered paper. In 2014, we used  
0.9 million metric tons of recovered 
paper in our production processes, 
and the recycled fiber content in the 
newsprint we produced averaged 
18%28.

•  100% of Resolute’s North American 
manufacturing facilities have a CoC 
tracking system that meets one or 
more of the following standards: 
Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®), 
Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) 
and Programme for the Endorsement 
of Forest Certification (PEFC).  
All of these require that 100% of 
the fiber processed meets minimum 
standards (also known as controlled 
wood standards, or due diligence) that 
relate to risks of illegal logging, wood 
harvested in violation of human rights 
and other important sustainability 
issues. This enables manufacturers 
and traders to avoid timber and timber 
products from unacceptable sources. 
Depending on the tracking system, 
additional standards apply related to 
high conservation values, conversion 
of forests to non-forest uses, genetically 
modified tree planting, corruption, 
indigenous rights and/or workers’ rights.

36

For 2015, we remain committed to 
maintaining 100% certification of 
Resolute-managed woodlands to SFM 
standards, and 100% CoC certification 
at all of the North American pulp and 
paper mills and wood products facilities.

WHERE DOES OUR WOOD AND 
VIRGIN FIBER COME FROM? 

•  Canadian public land on which 
we hold harvest rights, volume 
commitments, short-term volume 
allocations and harvest blocks 
acquired through auction sales.

•  Purchases from private forest 
landowners in Canada and the 
United States.

•  Wood chips from Resolute  

sawmills and from third-party 
suppliers.

•  Property the company owns  

or leases.

2014 CONSUMPTION AND SOURCING OF VIRGIN WOOD FIBER – PULP AND PAPER MILLS 

Total fiber consumed (odmt) 

Proportion of fiber consumed  
with SFM certification, %

Proportion of the total fiber supply 
that is sourced through FSC controlled 
wood, SFI sourcing requirements   
or PEFC due diligence, % 

Canadian pulp and paper mills
U.S. pulp and paper mills

Total

3,433,800
3,305,513

6,739,313

76.3
1 7.1

47.3

100
100

100

2014 CONSUMPTION AND SOURCING OF WOOD – SAWMILLS 

Total wood consumed (m3) 

7,502,77229

Proportion of wood consumed  
with SFM certification, %

Proportion of the total wood supply 
that is sourced through FSC controlled 
wood, SFI sourcing requirements   
or PEFC due diligence, % 

88.8

100

Canadian sawmills

28.  Includes recycled bleached kraft pulp (RBK).

29.  Does not include Opitciwan (Quebec) and Produits Forestiers Petit-Paris (Quebec) joint ventures. Does not include our remanufactured wood products  

facilities at Château-Richer (Quebec) and La Doré (Quebec) nor our engineered wood products facilities, Abitibi-LP Engineered Wood Inc. and  
Abitibi-LP Engineered Wood II Inc. (Quebec).

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT37

Ontario has permanently protected 
over 10% of its total area with 
654 parks, as well as reserves and  
other conservation designations34,  
with a total of 12% set aside in  
the managed forest35. In addition to 
these protected areas, nearly 40% 
of the boreal forest is located north 
of the Area of the Undertaking in 
Ontario and has been made off-limits 
to commercial forestry activities. When 
the provincial government approves 
timber harvesting operations, it bases 
its decisions on comprehensive forest 
management plans that factor in public 
input, scientific research and economic 
development. 

ENSURING THE SUSTAINABILITY  
OF OUR FIBER SUPPLY

All of the forest lands we manage are 
in Canada, where sustainable forest 
management principles are used to 
balance environmental, social and 
economic objectives30. Canadian forest 
products companies operate in a highly 
regulated environment with active 
enforcement from federal, provincial 
and local governments. In fact, a Yale 
University study and a comparative 
study by Indufor Oy have cited Canada’s 
forestry regulatory environment as one 
of the most stringent in the world31. 

Establishing a network of protected 
areas is a key consideration in 
sustainable forest management.  
As well, public consultation is critical  
for the development of collaborative 
forest management strategies to  
ensure that social needs are satisfied 
and forest values are protected. 

In Quebec, nearly 42% of the continuous 
boreal forest is off-limits to harvest,  
as it is beyond the northern limit for 
forestry allocations. Where forestry 
activities are permitted, an additional 
30.4 million acres (12.3 million hectares, 
or 38%) have been excluded for 
environmental purposes or due to 
conditions that limit harvest activities. 
That leaves a total of 48.9 million acres 
(19.8 million hectares) available for 
forest management planning, or about 
36% of the total continuous boreal 
forest, which means that, in Quebec, a 
total of 64% of the continuous boreal 
forest is inaccessible to the forest 
products industry32. While the process 
of completing the protected area 
network is ongoing, as of October 2014, 
Quebec had permanently protected 
over 9% of the province’s total area, 
or 37.8 million acres (15.3 million 
hectares)33. 

30. www.nrcan.gc.ca/forests/canada/sustainable-forest-management/13183 

31.  Indufor Oy, Comparison of Selected Forest Certification Standards, Helsinki, Finland, July 3, 2009. See also Cashore, Benjamin,  

Global Environmental Forest Policies: Canada as a Constant Case Comparison of Select Forest Practice Regulations, Yale University, 2004.  
Learn more at www.fpac.ca/index.php/en/environmental-progress#sthash.Pb9DhKlm.dpuf 

32.  Fiche thématique du Bureau du forestier en chef du Québec

33.  www.mddelcc.gouv.qc.ca/biodiversite/aires_protegees/registre/ 

34. www.ontario.ca/environment-and-energy/ontarios-parks-and-protected-areas 

35.  www.ontarionature.org/discover/resources/PDFs/toolkits/PAToolkit/7_RoomtoGrow.pdf 

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT38

certificate can be reinstated within  
a few months.

Finally, an FSC certificate covering the 
Caribou Forest in Ontario expired on 
January 13, 2015, at the conclusion of  
its five-year term.

REGULATORY  
COMPLIANCE

Our company prides itself on 
sustainable forest management plans 
and high environmental standards. In 
the woodlands of Quebec and Ontario 
where we operate, each provincial 
government has its own system to 
ensure compliance with forestry and 
environmental laws and regulations. 
Compliance inspectors visit our sites to 
observe everything from riparian buffer 
distances to drainage installations, 
noting any regulatory non-compliance. 

In Ontario, a combination of 
government and forest industry 
compliance inspectors identify instances 
of non-compliance and, where possible, 
companies are given an opportunity 
to rectify the situation. Administrative 
penalties and fines are imposed by  
the government when an issue cannot 
be addressed, generally within a  
three-year period. 

In Quebec, government agents carry 
out the compliance inspections without 
involving the company in the process. 
Non-compliance charges can be filed 
several years after an incident occurs, 
and legal proceedings can take an 
additional two years36. In many cases, 
non-compliance situations that have 
been corrected will still incur a fine. 

FIBER AND FORESTRY (CONTINUED)

SUSTAINABLE FOREST 
MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION 

In addition to complying with 
government-approved forest 
management plans, comprehensive 
regulations, and recovery plans for 
species at risk, Resolute has sought out 
independent certification for 100% of 
the forests we manage in Canada. 

In 2014, Resolute successfully renewed 
SFI certificates for all of our managed 
woodlands in Quebec and maintained 
our SFI sustainable forest management 
certification across Ontario. 

We continue to be one of the  
largest holders of FSC sustainable 
forest management certificates in  
North America and have successfully 
renewed or maintained our FSC 
certificates in several areas, including 
the Mauricie, Abitibi and North Shore 
regions of Quebec. 

Although the company received notice 
of three temporary suspensions under 
the FSC National Boreal Standard in 
2013, and one of those certificates 
(Mistassini-Péribonka, Quebec) expired 
on December 3, 2014, all of the areas  
in question remain certified under  
the SFI standard. 

Details of the three certificate 
suspensions are as follows:

In Quebec, one of the two suspended 
certificates in Lac-Saint-Jean covers 
an area at the center of a complex 
territorial dispute between two First 
Nations and the Quebec government. 
Resolute plays no role in this dispute. 
For this certificate and the other 
suspended one in Quebec, FSC 
auditors also raised issues related to 
the provincial government’s caribou 
conservation plans, which were deemed 
inadequate as they relate to elements 
of the federal caribou recovery strategy, 
more specifically the disturbance 
level. However, other holders of FSC 
certificates for neighboring territories in 
the Lac-Saint-Jean region have had their 
certificates renewed, despite having 

submitted the same caribou habitat 
conservation plan that was considered 
unacceptable when Resolute’s FSC 
certificates were audited. These are 
the two main issues that led to the 
temporary suspension of Resolute’s 
certificates in the Lac-Saint-Jean region. 

Statements from the government 
confirm that the matters described 
above are the government’s concern 
and that the Province of Quebec is 
responsible for both the territorial 
disputes and the caribou habitat issues. 
FSC Canada asked the certification 
body to extend the temporary 
suspension of one of Resolute’s Quebec 
certificates until July 2015 to give the 
government time to settle its dispute 
with the Cree First Nation, which dates 
back to 2002, and resolve the issues 
with its caribou conservation plan. 

In Ontario, the Black Spruce and 
Dog River-Matawin FSC certificate 
suspension was based on issues related 
to securing support from interested 
parties for Resolute’s FSC protected 
area proposal. The company had 
planned to fulfill this requirement as 
part of its participation in the Canadian 
Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA) 
process, whose membership includes 
environmental groups. However, the 
process has been difficult in light of the 
breakdown of negotiations in May 2013. 
A new conformance verification audit 
(CVA) was carried out in April 2014.  
In order to prevent the publication  
of a problematic report, Resolute 
sought a legal injunction following  
the 2014 audit. 

In February 2015, a Settlement 
Agreement was reached with the 
organization that conducted the 
original CVA, which included provisions 
to maintain the sealed status of all 
documents pertaining to the original 
CVA and conduct a new audit with a 
different independent audit team within 
six months. Resolute has developed an 
action plan for securing the required 
support, and we are hopeful that this 

36.  In the province of Quebec, proceedings with respect to offences committed under the “Regulation respecting standards of forest management for forests  

in the domain of the State” are instituted by the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions under the Code of Penal Procedure.

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORTAlthough we have a long history of 
keeping our annual non-compliance 
rates below the industry average, 
Resolute ensures that regulatory 
non-compliance incidents, and the 
associated fines, are closely monitored. 
That is why in 2009 Resolute 
implemented a zero-tolerance policy for 
forestry non-compliance and has been 
working steadily to achieve that goal  
by actively identifying risks.

In 201437, Resolute was fined C$4,625 
for two non-compliance incidents: one 
in Quebec, which dated back to 2012, 
and the other in Ontario, detected in 
2013. 2014 is the first year Resolute 
is publicly reporting our progress, 
disclosing two situations identified 
internally that could potentially lead to 
regulatory infractions in Ontario and 
two identified in Quebec. 

We have set our 2015 target of three 
or less internally identified situations 
that could potentially lead to regulatory 
infractions in each of the provinces 
where we operate. This approach will 
help measure our progress towards zero 
infractions by proactively identifying 
issues and remediation actions in a 
more immediate time frame in order to 
prevent infractions before they occur. 

WE VALUE AND SUPPORT 
BIODIVERSITY

Operating in a highly regulated 
environment with active enforcement 
from federal, provincial and local 
government partners, Resolute benefits 
from numerous conservation activities, 
sound protected-area development, 
and collaborative forest management 
strategies. In Ontario and Quebec 
where Resolute has tenures, biodiversity 
monitoring is usually carried out by 
the provincial agencies responsible 
for wildlife policies and wildlife 
management. 

Even in high conservation value forests, 
harvesting is not prohibited as long 
as effective strategies are in place to 
protect the high-value attributes that 
have been identified. These strategies 
may include defining protected areas, 
deferring forest management activities 
on selected large tracts, and developing 
road management strategies, as well as 
natural and planted forest regeneration. 
The three independent certification 
standards (FSC, SFI and CSA), to at 
least one of which our forests are 
certified, require the consideration of 
the latest scientific evidence on species 
conservation and management. 

39

In coordination with the provincial 
governments, Resolute also seeks to 
identify critical habitat areas for species 
of interest, such as the woodland 
caribou. Our goal is to ensure that  
our forest management plans protect  
such areas and minimize disturbance  
to the populations in question.  
In our work with the CBFA, we helped 
to achieve a preliminary agreement 
in Northeastern Ontario that set 
2.06 million acres (835,000 hectares) 
aside for conservation and other 
ecosystem services. In Northwestern 
Ontario, Resolute also proposed the 
protection of an additional 504,000 
acres (204,000 hectares) of forest for 
caribou habitat, on top of the nearly  
5 million acres (2 million hectares) of 
Ontario forests that have already been 
set aside as protected spaces, parks and 
other initiatives over the past 15 years. 

In Ontario, Resolute forest management 
units (FMUs) have the highest 
percentage of land set aside as 
protected areas than any other FMUs  
in the province. In Quebec, we put 
forward an additional 1.71 million 
acres (692,000 hectares) in possible 
protected areas, focusing on prime 
habitat for caribou conservation.

For more information on how  
Resolute manages forest lands 
responsibly, please visit  
www.resolutefp.com/sustainability.

Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (Quebec) region

Michel Belleau, Lac-Saint-Jean woodlands operations

37.  Disclosed regulatory infractions as they would be published on the provincial ministry website only include woodlands operations directly managed by Resolute.

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORTFIBER AND FORESTRY (CONTINUED)

40

1997

2005

2013

Rapid growth  
follows harvesting

2005

2013

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT41

OUR FORESTS
ARE 100% 
REGENERATED

In Canada, under half of one percent of  
the boreal forest is harvested each year.  
In comparison, more than five times that area  
is disturbed annually by natural causes such as 
forest fires, insects and disease38.

In the boreal forest, approximately 75%  
of the area harvested through forestry  
grows back naturally. The other 25% is promptly 
reforested via seeding or planting of seedlings.

Managing timberlands responsibly,  
using wood before natural disturbances occur,  
and salvaging wood in the wake of natural 
disturbances can safeguard the forest’s  
natural life cycle and ensure its sustainability. 

38. 2014. Natural Resources Canada. The State of Canada’s Forests: Annual Report 2014. https://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/publications?id=35713

42

•  Another dispute involves the 

Algonquins of Barrière Lake in 
Quebec, who sent a statement to the 
provincial government concerning 
the lack of consultation over logging 
permits issued for the area. These 
consultations are carried out by 
government representatives, with or 
without the involvement of Resolute. 
The major challenge here stems from 
an unresolved matter in the trilateral 
territorial agreement between the 
provincial and federal governments 
and the First Nation. It is the 
governments’ responsibility to  
settle this dispute.

•  The Atikamekw First Nation, also in 
Quebec, declared sovereignty over 
a 19.8-million acre (8-million hectare) 
area in September 2014. The 
community has stated that it will  
not allow any forestry work on its 
territory in Quebec unless it has given 
prior approval, a process that must  
be led by the provincial government. 

LASTING COLLABORATION  
WITH FIRST NATIONS 

In some of our operating communities 
in Canada, First Nations peoples form 
a large portion of the population. 
Resolute respects the importance of 
Canada’s land, water and forests to its 
Aboriginal peoples, and we understand 
that these resources are critical to the 
prosperity of Aboriginal communities.

As outlined in our Aboriginal Peoples 
Policy, Resolute is committed to 
nurturing constructive relationships  
with First Nations, including the need  
to respect treaties, traditions and 
rights, to pursue mutually beneficial 
commercial relationships, and to 
support job training. 

Public consultation is an essential step 
in the sustainable forest management 
planning process. Resolute actively 
engages First Nations in the review 
of our harvesting plans to ensure that 
the company takes into account local 
cultural, environmental, social and 
economic considerations.

While industry is often called upon  
to participate in discussions,  
in Canada the legal responsibility 
to consult with First Nations and 
harmonize forest management  
practices with their traditional land 
uses lies with government. Within this 
framework, Resolute collaborates  
with First Nations and governments  
to promote constructive discussions 
that we hope will lead to long-term 
solutions.

FOREST MANAGEMENT  
PLANNING 

In Ontario, the company maintains close 
ties with 27 First Nations communities 
and collaborates on the development of 
mutually acceptable management plans 
for the areas where we operate. 

In Quebec, Resolute regularly engages 
with 12 different communities from five 
separate First Nations to harmonize 
our operating plans with their use of 
traditional lands. 

In a small number of cases, agreements 
have not been reached due to a variety 
of factors. 

•  In Quebec, a land claim issue 

between the Cree, the Innu and the 
Government of Quebec is one of the 
major factors behind the suspension 
of one of Resolute’s FSC certificates, 
as detailed in the Fiber and Forestry 
section on page 38 of this report.

This will be the 12th year of our unique partnership with Resolute 
at its Thunder Bay sawmill. Throughout the relationship, Resolute 
has been open and engaged with us, willing to create meaningful 
employment, provide training and help support the long-term 
sustainability of the Fort William First Nation. The company 
understands that First Nations peoples have a place at the table,  
a say in what matters in their community. That sets an example. 

– Chief Georjann Morriseau, Fort William First Nation

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT43

MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL 
INITIATIVES

Resolute has a number of partnerships 
with members of First Nations 
communities. These include working 
together to identify employment and 
contracting opportunities, providing 
support for educational programs 
and cultural-landmark mapping, 
and collaborating on agreements, 
planning, road construction and forest 
regeneration. The following examples 
from 2014 illustrate what is possible 
when we join forces on sustainable 
initiatives.

Ontario
Multi-year contracts in excess of 
C$100 million were awarded to six 
First Nations resulting from Resolute’s 
Northwestern Ontario investments in 
the Atikokan and Ignace sawmills, as 
well as from the production capacity 
increase at the Thunder Bay sawmill 
and the addition of a wood pellet 
plant at the Thunder Bay site. The 
Memorandum of Agreement, renewed 
in February 2015, has yielded contracts 
for: construction work at Resolute’s area 
sawmills; the transportation of wood 
chips, biomass and lumber from the 
sawmills; yard services to manage the 
loading and unloading of logs, lumber 
and by-products; and log harvesting  
and delivery. These contracts are in 
addition to existing agreements, worth 
approximately C$50 million a year,  
that pertain to our other operations  
in the region. 

Quebec
In the Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, 
Resolute worked with the Mashteuiatsh 
First Nation and the government of 
Quebec to complete a consolidation 
project after the company’s Roberval 
sawmill closed in 2014. As a result, over 
50% of the Roberval wood allocation 
was transferred to the community of 
Mashteuiatsh, while the remainder  
was transferred to our La Doré and 
Saint-Félicien sawmills.

•  The Opitciwan (Quebec) sawmill  
is a unique joint venture that has 
operated successfully since 1999.  
The Atikamekw Council of Obedjiwan 
has a 55% interest in the joint 
venture, while Resolute owns 45%. 
In September 2013, the sawmill was 
awarded the prestigious Aboriginal 
Business Leadership Award by the 
Forest Products Association of 
Canada and the Canadian Council  
for Aboriginal Business.

PARTNERSHIPS  
AND VENTURES

•  Our Thunder Bay (Ontario) sawmill, 

which operates under a unique 
business model with Resolute and  
the Fort William First Nation, is the 
first facility in Canada to work  
under regulations created by the  
First Nations Commercial and 
Industrial Development Act, which 
facilitates industrial development  
with First Nations on their land. 

•  Resolute has been purchasing 
seedlings from a tree nursery 
established by the Wabigoon Lake 
Ojibway Nation (Ontario), with the 
company’s help, in the late 1990s. 
The company purchases more than 
1.5 million seedlings annually from 
this venture to support regeneration 
activities.

•  Through our ongoing partnership  
with the community of Kitigan  
Zibi Anishinabeg, we carry out  
forest management and harvesting 
activities and pay a stumpage fee  
in exchange for volumes allocated  
to the First Nation by the  
Quebec government. 

Resolute and six  
First Nations celebrate  
a ground-breaking 
Memorandum of 
Agreement that has 
resulted in C$100 million  
in new Aboriginal  
business.

Front left to right: Chief Will Windigo, Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation, Chief Judy White Cloud, Lac des Milles Lacs First Nation, Richard Garneau, President and  
Chief Executive Officer of Resolute Forest Products, Chief Earl Klyne, Seine River First Nation, Chief Sara Mainville, Couchiching First Nation, Chief Janice Henderson, 
Mitaanjigamiing First Nation, and Chief Norman Jordan, Lac La Croix First Nation

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT44

As one of the founding members of the 
CBFA, Resolute has negotiated in good 
faith with all parties, offering concrete 
proposals and devoting thousands of 
hours to the initiative. The company 
remains supportive of a collaborative 
and inclusive approach, continuing 
to believe that the CBFA must fully 
engage community leaders, First Nations 
and provincial governments in order to 
achieve sustainable outcomes. 

CONFRONTING  
MISINFORMATION

2014 saw an escalation of market 
campaign activity by Greenpeace  
and other activist organizations.  
The inaccurate and deceptive 
campaigning is not only impacting 
Resolute but also increasing the  
fragility of the forest products  
industry, and adversely affecting  
the social and economic conditions  
of northern communities. In spite  
of the retraction of false statements, 
activists have continued to publish  
and broadcast false allegations.  
In the face of this persistent approach, 
Resolute remains committed to its  
legal proceedings against Greenpeace. 
It is unfortunate that activists continue 
to undermine a collaborative effort, 
and their misinformed communications 
stand in stark contrast to Resolute’s  
top-tier forestry practices and  
overall sustainability performance.  
The company has a responsibility to 
protect its own reputation as well as 
that of its employees, customers  
and partners. 

ENGAGING  
IN DIALOGUE 

Dialogue at the local level is 
essential for building trust and 
ensuring collaboration. Open, honest 
conversations about environmental, 
social and economic issues facing the 
forest products industry are important. 

Both forums have provided a platform 
for fact-based discussions and help 
ensure that individual and community 
voices are heard regarding sustainable 
forest practices and the importance of 
forestry to regional economies.

Through the information-sharing 
program, members of each facility’s 
management team meet regularly with 
a range of interested parties, from local 
First Nations, governments, business 
partners and chambers of commerce 
to environmental organizations, 
educational institutions, representatives 
from other industries, retirees and 
others. Whether it involves noise 
control issues, energy conservation 
or questions about new projects and 
investments, our communities engage 
in discussions on a variety of topics that 
are of importance to everyone involved. 

QUEBEC STAKEHOLDERS

In 2013, Resolute launched our first 
online forum – Forum boréal – to share 
information about the sustainable 
management of the boreal forest in 
Quebec. This social media platform 
also supports ongoing dialogue with a 
range of stakeholders in the Quebec 
communities where we operate. 

Our community outreach in 2014 
included public meetings in the 
Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, North Shore, 
Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Outaouais 
regions on matters such as fiber 
allocation, woodland caribou and forest 
certification. These meetings drew over 
750 participants from the four regions. 
Meetings were also held with various 
First Nations communities.

ONTARIO STAKEHOLDERS

Encouraged by the success of Forum 
boréal in Quebec, Resolute launched a 
similar initiative for Northern Ontario 
audiences in 2014. The new platform, 
Boreal Forum, was introduced during 
town hall meetings in Thunder Bay, 
Atikokan and Ignace with more than 
400 people in attendance. 

FIRST NATIONS 

We focus on encouraging relationships 
with First Nations groups, with whom 
we share a common interest in ensuring 
that our forests continue to provide for 
future generations. Our commitment to 
developing and nurturing constructive 
relationships with First Nations is 
outlined in our Aboriginal Peoples 
Policy. A key objective of this ongoing 
commitment is to engage with chiefs, 
councils and elders in operating 
communities.

For example, in areas where Resolute 
has the lead role in harvest planning, 
we actively involve First Nations in the 
review of our plans to ensure that we 
take into account local environmental, 
social and economic considerations. 
While this participation is required to 
maintain our third-party sustainable 
forest management certifications, 
it also drives the identification of 
material issues that will be targeted 
for improvement. As well, it gives both 
parties a forum in which to explore 
mutually beneficial opportunities.

THE CANADIAN BOREAL  
FOREST AGREEMENT

During 2014, Resolute remained an 
active and committed participant in the 
Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement 
(CBFA), which brings together envi-
ronmental groups and forest products 
companies to identify solutions for 
sustainable development in Canada’s 
boreal forest.

While it is at times challenging to find 
common ground among organizations 
with such diverse interests, Resolute 
believes its contributions and overall 
commitment to sustainable forestry 
have made a positive impact on the 
CBFA process. 

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
Managing for Environmental, 
Social and Economic Balance  
in the Boreal Forest

ENERGY AND  
CLIMATE CHANGE

46

Reducing our carbon footprint by 
enhancing the energy efficiency of our 
facilities and increasing the use of lower 
carbon fuels is an important focus of our 
operational strategy. But that work tells 
only part of the Resolute success story. 
We invest in clean energy projects, 
which reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) 
emissions while also cutting our  
power costs. 

As part of our membership in the  
World Wildlife Fund® (WWF®)  
Climate Savers program, we committed 
to achieving a reduction in absolute 
GHG emissions (scope 1 and 2)39 of 65% 
below 2000 levels by 2015. Resolute 
reports on emissions classified as scope 
1 (direct emissions coming from on-site 
fuel combustion) and scope 2 (indirect 
emissions from purchased electricity 
and steam). 

Key highlights of our 2014  
work include:

•  Reducing total GHG emissions by 
67.5% since 2000, surpassing our 
WWF reduction target  
two years ahead of schedule; 

•  Sourcing 72% of our total energy 
needs from renewable sources40;

•  Deriving 77% of our fuel energy usage 

from biomass41; and

•  Replacing the remaining  

coal used at our operations with 
natural gas, a less carbon-intensive 
fuel, in order to become scope 1  
coal-free as of April 2014.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Considering that energy accounts for 
approximately 23% of the company’s 
paper production costs, Resolute’s focus 
on improving energy efficiency and 
replacing high-emission fuels like coal 
with less carbon-intensive fuels benefits 
both the environment and our bottom 
line. In 2014, we converted our Coosa 
Pines (Alabama) mill from coal to natural 
gas, and we reduced bunker C oil use 
at both our Clermont and Saint-Félicien 
(Quebec) mills. 

Energy-efficient production places 
Resolute ahead of potential regulations, 
positioning the company as a leader 
in GHG reductions and in the 

development of new, sustainable 
products that have a lower carbon 
footprint. 

We are constantly evaluating and 
improving our manufacturing processes. 
Reducing our overall carbon emissions 
improves our cost structure and 
competitive position. Examples include:

•  A modification completed at our 

Grenada (Mississippi) paper mill to 
convert the thermo-mechanical pulp 
(TMP) to inter-stage screening with 
long-fiber refining. The technology 
allows us to reduce electrical 
energy consumption to manufacture 
mechanical pulp at the facility.  
This, in turn, contributes directly to 
reducing our scope 2 GHG emissions.

•  In collaboration with Natural 

Resources Canada and FPInnovations, 
a project using sophisticated analysis 
techniques identified significant 
energy-saving opportunities at our 
Thunder Bay (Ontario) pulp and paper 
mill. We are also optimizing the use of 
fuel and steam at our Saint-Félicien 
and Calhoun (Tennessee) facilities. 

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS  
OVER 2000 LEVELS  
PULP AND PAPER MILLS, 2000-2014

CARBON FOOTPRINT 
PULP AND PAPER MILLS, 2014

(millions mt CO2e)

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

(kg CO2e/mt)

1,000

900

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

●  Scope 1:  

Direct emissions from production

40%

●  Scope 2:  

Indirect emissions related to  
purchased electricity and steam

60%

2000

2012

2013

2014

937
7.25
4.61

696
2.41
1.43

654
2.17
1.69

611
2.06
1.39

●  Total intensity (direct + indirect)
■  Total absolute (indirect)
■  Total absolute (direct)

39.  Scope 1 GHG emissions are greenhouse gas emissions that come from sources owned or controlled by the company, such as the combustion of fuel at mills to 

generate heat to dry paper or generate electricity. Scope 2 GHG emissions are greenhouse gas emissions that are the result of company activities occurring at 
sources owned or controlled by third parties, associated with the production of purchased electricity or steam. Scope 2 emissions physically occur at the facility 
where electricity or steam is generated.

40. Does not include wood products. Renewable sources include hydroelectricity (owned and purchased) and biomass used to produce steam and cogeneration electricity.

41.  Does not include wood products. Includes bark and biosolids from our water treatment plants, black liquor and landfill gas.

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
47

•  A $105-million investment at our 
Calhoun pulp and paper mill will 
produce efficiencies from better 
wood yield and lower steam and 
chemical usage, while increasing  
pulp production capacity and 
improving product quality. 

The environmental impact of our 
operations is not limited to direct 
emissions. We are also beginning 
to track GHG emissions related to 
our supply chain. Known as scope 3 
emissions, they too represent an 
important aspect of our carbon 
inventory. Over time, we intend to 
develop strong relationships and 
a collaborative approach with key 
suppliers to further reduce our  
global carbon footprint. 

We are committed to implementing 
scope 3 standard GHG accounting  
and to begin the full reporting of  
scope 3 GHG emissions in 2015. 

The indirect greenhouse gas emissions 
listed in scope 3 include all indirect 
emissions not covered in scope 2,  

such as emissions from the production 
of purchased materials or transportation 
activities not controlled by the company.

ENERGY SOURCES

The energy used in pulp and paper 
production comes primarily from 
steam and electrical power. Resolute 
generates power from its seven 
hydroelectric and seven cogeneration 
facilities, and purchases electricity, 
fuel and steam from external suppliers. 
Cogeneration, which refers to the 
simultaneous generation of electricity 
and steam, allows us to extract more 
energy from biomass. In 2014, our 
installations generated more than 
2,864 GWh of electricity, mostly from 
renewable sources. This reduces our 
need to purchase energy from outside 
sources, which can be more GHG-
intensive. In 2014, our operations 
associated with electricity-generating 
installations42 collectively met 
approximately 47% of their electrical 
requirements using internal sources. 

Together, all four of our operations with 
cogeneration assets from which we sell 
electricity externally reduced our costs 
by approximately $43 million43. 

In 2014, the amount of electricity we 
purchased at our pulp and paper mills 
totaled approximately 11,534 GWh. 

Energy is also produced by the 
combustion of fuel, and in 2014,  
27,610 GWh of energy were produced. 
As an integral part of our operational 
strategy, we continued to focus on the 
reduced use of carbon-intensive fuels. 
In 2014, 77% of our fuel needs were 
met using renewable fuel, namely  
black liquor, wood residues and 
biosolids from our treatment plants44. 

We also make use of alternative energy 
sources such as methane from landfills, 
used oils, tire-derived fuel and waste 
plastics, recovering their energy value 
to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels.

Of all the energy used by our pulp  
and paper making processes, 72%  
came from renewable sources,  
such as hydroelectricity and biomass. 

FUEL USE FOR STEAM 
PULP AND PAPER, 2014 

ELECTRICITY USE  
PULP AND PAPER, 2014 

● Black liquor solids
● Bark and biosolids
● Natural gas
● Bunker C oil
● Purchased steam
● Landfill gas
● Tire-derived fuel
● Plastics
 Coal

%

40
36
19.9
1.3
0.8
0.7
0.5
0.5
0.3

● Purchased – hydro
● Purchased – nuclear
● Self-generated cogeneration power
● Purchased – coal
● Purchased – natural gas
● Owned hydro power
● Purchased – other

%
46
14
12

10
8
8
2

Hydro-Saguenay hydroelectric operations

42.  Alma (Quebec), Calhoun (Tennessee), Catawba (South Carolina), Coosa Pines (Alabama), Dolbeau (Quebec), Gatineau (Quebec), Kénogami (Quebec), Saint-Félicien 

(Quebec) and Thunder Bay (Ontario) pulp and paper mills.

43. From the four cogeneration assets from which we sell electricity externally, not including other operational efficiencies realized with the operation  

of the cogeneration facilities.

44. For all our operating sites that produce steam on-site. 

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
 
 
MILL ENVIRONMENTAL  
PERFORMANCE

Our manufacturing processes have 
an environmental impact through the 
consumption of resources, as well as 
from air emissions, waste generation 
and water discharge. We seek to 
minimize these impacts and to go 
beyond minimum legal requirements by 
focusing on continuous improvement 
and by establishing environmental 
management systems (EMS) at all  
our operating facilities.

ENVIRONMENTAL 
MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Environmental performance is managed 
at the local level, with oversight from 
the highest levels of the organization. 
Guided by our environmental policy, 
mill environment coordinators are 
responsible for ensuring compliance 
with local laws and regulations, as well 
as facilitating continuous improvement. 

Our coordinators work closely with 
corporate environment managers to 
identify and manage the issues most 
relevant to a specific operation. Each 
facility identifies key performance 
indicators (KPIs) and sets related target 
reductions annually. This approach 
respects the different geographic 
and technological contexts of each 
operation. KPIs are monitored at both 
the mill and corporate levels. 

48

All of our operating facilities and all of 
our Canadian woodlands operations 
are covered by an environmental 
management system. Ten facilities  
had their EMS ISO 14001-certified  
in 2014, so that all but three are now 
ISO 14001-certified45. The three 
remaining facilities – the Menominee 
(Michigan) pulp mill, the recently 
restarted Ignace (Ontario) sawmill  
and the Atikokan (Ontario) sawmill, 
currently under construction – will seek 
ISO 14001 certification in 2015. 

Our operations also work to 
continuously improve environmental 
performance in key areas. Resolute 
reports sustainability performance 
in accordance with Global Reporting 
Initiative (GRI) guidelines. Detailed 
descriptions of the scope of the 
reporting and data measurement 
techniques on our climate, water 
and waste management work will be 
available in the sustainability section  
of our website in summer 2015.  
The four key areas in which we  
monitor performance include:

•  Air emissions
•  Waste generation
•  Water management
•  Environmental incidents

AIR EMISSIONS

We manage air emissions using 
generally accepted pollution control 
technologies to minimize emissions 
of contaminants such as sulfur 
dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NOX) 
and total particulate matter (TPM) 
concentrations. We have also adopted 
broader measures such as switching 
from coal and heavy oil (bunker C) 
powered boilers to cleaner fuels such  
as natural gas and biomass. 

Resolute has made significant 
investments to ensure we meet  
and even exceed regulations.  
More stringent emission limits will  
be imposed in the United States  
in 2016 with the implementation  
of the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency’s new Boiler Maximum 
Achievable Control Technology (MACT) 
rule. At the end of 2014, four of  
our six U.S. mills that are subject to 
this upcoming rule were already in 
compliance. Work is underway at  
the other two facilities to ensure 
compliance by 2016. 

Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill

Neil Patterson, contractor,  
Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill

Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill

45. Does not include unconsolidated entities: Opitciwan and Produits Forestiers Petit-Paris (Quebec) sawmills. 

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
49

Resolute’s environmental compliance  
and risk audits serve to complement our 
incident management system. Through 
these audits, areas for improvement 
are identified and plans are developed 
and implemented to reduce the risk 
of environmental incidents. 2014 
represented the second year of  
our three-year risk audit cycle. At the 
end of 2014, 73% of our pulp and paper 
mills had completed both compliance 
and risk audits, while 83% of our 
sawmills and 100% of our Canadian 
woodlands operations had completed  
a compliance audit.

WASTE GENERATION

ENVIRONMENTAL INCIDENTS

We track environmental incidents at all 
of our operations. In 2014, we reduced 
mill environmental incidents by 19%, 
surpassing our 10% reduction target 
over 2013. The company recorded 
52 environmental incidents in 2014 
compared to 64 in 2013. We continue  
to work towards our long-term goal 
of zero incidents by setting an 8% 
reduction target for 2015 compared  
to the 2014 baseline. 

Our incident management approach 
includes: a comprehensive tracking 
system to ensure efficient reporting;  
full incident investigation with root 
cause analysis; implementation of 
permanent corrective measures; and 
the sharing of key findings among our 
operations to prevent recurrence. 

Reducing the waste generated by 
our activities is another key focus at 
our pulp and paper mills. We address 
waste by identifying beneficial-use 
alternatives and developing process 
efficiencies, such as making optimal use 
of fiber to minimize the cost of effluent 
treatment. Beneficial-use alternatives 
include practices such as landspreading 
and mine-site rehabilitation, further 
reducing the amount of waste sent  
to landfill. 

WATER MANAGEMENT

Papermaking is a water-intensive 
process. We reuse water as much 
as possible and return 95% to the 
environment. The remaining 5% 
is captured in the end product or 
evaporated during the manufacturing 
process. All the water we use passes 
through primary and secondary effluent 
treatment prior to being returned to 
the environment. We closely monitor 
our performance and ensure continuous 
improvement. Information on water 
discharged is aggregated, analyzed 
and reported to organizations like the 
Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

WATER DISCHARGED  
PULP AND PAPER MILLS, 2012-2014

●  Intensity (m3 of water discharged/mt 

of pulp or paper produced)
■  Absolute – water discharged  

(millions of m3)

64.2

65.5

56.3

Thunder Bay sawmill

Water treatment plant, Kénogami

46. Does not include the three Fibrek mills acquired in 2012.

47.  Calculated using extrapolated data for the Gatineau (Quebec) paper mill, which came online during the second half of 2013 to account for the start-up period.

46

2012
354

47

2013
386

2014
332

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORTHUMAN  
RESOURCES

Resolute’s long-term competitiveness 
is tied to the ability to recruit, develop 
and retain top-quality employees with 
the right skills. We are committed to 
implementing new human resource 
practices to ensure employee retention 
and workforce renewal. We are building 
a strong company culture that attracts 
results-driven and action-oriented 
employees and allows natural leaders 
to grow.

2014 highlights:

•  Hired 1,089 new employees;

•  Relied on our social media presence, 

including The Resolute Blog, to 
promote, for example, the professional 
development of our graduate 
engineers and others;

•  Participated in career days and 

other events hosted by colleges and 
universities to sustain a recruiting 
presence in all our operating 
communities;

•  Are on target to hire 4,250 new 

employees over the 2014-2018 period;

•  Launched an official employee referral 

program;

•  Hired 12 engineering graduates 
through our internship program, 
providing them with opportunities 
to accelerate their professional 
development toward leadership roles; 

•  Negotiated new collective agreements 

for a significant portion of our 
Canadian and U.S. operations; and

•  Launched an integrated leadership 

system designed to increase 
organizational capability.

WORKFORCE  
AND TURNOVER

As at December 31, 2014, we employed 
approximately 7,70048 people, of whom 
about 5,300 were represented by 
bargaining units.

We experienced a turnover rate of 
11.6%, half as a result of retirements.

RENEWAL AND RETENTION 
STRATEGY

We believe that our employees are 
an important success factor and that 
our organization is bettered through 
investing in the recruitment of new 
talent and developing the competencies 
of our people. Over the next few years, 
many of our long-standing workers will 
be taking a well-deserved retirement, 
and we will need to attract skilled 
candidates who are motivated and 
eager to learn. To rise to this challenge, 
we have built a workplace where 
our employees can learn, grow and 
contribute. 

In 2013, Resolute partnered with Cégep 
de Saint-Félicien (Quebec) to launch a 
certificate program in pulp and paper 
manufacturing. In 2014, 13 students 
graduated from the program, which 
also included two 120-hour internships 
at a Resolute mill. A second group of 
students will graduate this year.

50

In addition to participating in career 
days, open house events at schools 
and other community activities, we 
ramped up our efforts to recruit skilled 
employees in a more targeted way.  
In 2014, we ran a regional advertising 
campaign in Quebec’s Saguenay–Lac-
Saint-Jean region to increase Resolute’s 
visibility as a provider of good jobs  
for people who want to live and work  
in the area.

We also sought to involve our current 
employees in our recruitment efforts 
by developing a referral program. The 
Employee Referral Program is designed 
to attract quality candidates, increase 
our overall speed of recruitment, and 
improve our hiring success rates.

LABOR RELATIONS

Constructive labor and management 
relations are at the foundation of good 
human resource management and, as 
such, are very important to Resolute’s 
business. Regular dialogue with union 
leaders, local union representatives and 
employees at all our operations ensures 
that these key stakeholders are kept 
informed and engaged.

In the United States, Resolute, the 
United Steel Workers (USW), the 
International Brotherhood of Electrical 
Workers (IBEW) and the United Associ-
ation of Journeymen and Apprentices of 
the Plumbing, Pipefitting and Sprinkler 
Fitting Industry of the U.S. and Canada 
(UA) renewed, prior to their expiration, 
the collective agreements of our mills at 
Catawba (South Carolina) and Calhoun 
(Tennessee), which now expire in 2019. 
At the same time, collective agreements 
were renewed for our mills at Coosa 
Pines (Alabama) and Augusta (Georgia), 
which now expire in 2020. These four 
mills represent 35% of our pulp and 
paper production capacity.

48. Excluding the unconsolidated entities in which we have non-controlling interests.

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT51

In Canada, an agreement in principle 
was entered into between Unifor and 
Resolute to renew the collective agree-
ments for a four-year period, which was 
ratified by a strong majority of union 
members in each mill covered by the 
agreement. This agreement was rep-
licated with the United Association of 
Plumbers and Steamfitters (UAPS),  
the IBEW, the International Association 
of Machinists and Aerospace  
Workers (IAMAW) and the International 
Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE). 
Collectively, these agreements cover 
eight pulp and paper mills in Canada, 
accounting for over 37% of our pulp 
and paper capacity.

We also entered into an agreement  
with Unifor to renew the collective 
agreements for periods of four to  
six years, covering approximately  
500 employees in four sawmills in 
Canada. We reached as well a six-year 
agreement with USW, representing  
our hourly employees working at the 
Ignace sawmill.

INTEGRATED  
LEADERSHIP SYSTEM

ETHICS  
AND INTEGRITY 

In 2014, the company launched a 
strategic organization initiative focused 
on the implementation of an integrated 
leadership system designed to increase 
organizational capability.

The new leadership system is  
designed to:

•  Optimize the organization’s structure;
•  Clarify each employee’s role  

and accountabilities;

•  Provide a robust approach to 

evaluating employee demonstrated 
effectiveness and potential;

•  Improve leadership practices to 

enhance each employee’s opportunity 
to drive success individually and, 
ultimately, for the company;

•  Better link compensation to individual 

performance; and

•  Improve the succession-planning 

process.

By focusing on providing the right tools 
for individual success, the company 
is better equipped to enhance share-
holder value, product quality for our 
customers, and the health and safety  
of our employees.

Resolute manages ethics and integrity 
through a number of tools, including 
the Code of Business Conduct, the 
Ethics Reporting Policy and an indepen-
dent ethics reporting hotline/helpline. 
Employees, officers and directors of 
Resolute are required to report financial 
or accounting irregularities as well as 
other suspected wrongdoings, to raise 
any other ethics or compliance concerns 
or questions they may have, and to pro-
actively seek guidance on actions with 
potential ethical implications. Resolute 
uses a team of internal experts to look 
into each reported potential violation. 

All employees are being trained on the 
requirements of the company’s Code 
of Business Conduct and the Ethics 
Reporting Policy. Additional training on 
anti-bribery and corruption programs is 
scheduled for 2015 for targeted groups 
of employees. 

Internal audits are conducted regularly 
to ensure compliance with the proce-
dures adopted in accordance with the 
Code of Business Conduct, and material 
findings are reported to management 
and the board of directors. 

Daniel Vaillancourt, Saint-Thomas sawmill

Julia Conrad, Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill

Curtis Swindell, Jr., Calhoun pulp and paper mill

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORTHEALTH  
AND SAFETY

At Resolute, safety is a core value. 
We diligently pursue our goal of 
establishing a “total safety organization”, 
with a long-term goal of zero incidents 
and zero injuries at all our operations. 
Structures and management systems 
are in place to support and ensure the 
safety of everyone at our sites.

2014 SAFETY  
PERFORMANCE

2014 was Resolute’s best year ever  
in terms of safety performance.  
The company’s Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration (OSHA) incident 
rate was 0.83, below the target of 
0.99 and in line with world-class safety 
performance. This represented a 22% 
reduction in total recordable injuries 
compared to 2013. OSHA recordable 
injuries have dropped from 145 in 2011 
to 70 in 2014 – a reduction of more  
than 50%. However, we reported  
a 13% increase in lost-time incidents. 

We will continue to work diligently  
to reduce the severity of injuries.  
Our 2014 company-wide severity rate, 
which measures the actual impact  
from injuries on the health of our 
employees, was 33, a 21% increase 
compared to 201349. 

We also achieved an overall 3.8 near-
miss ratio per employee (29,063 near 
misses reported), reflecting an increase 
in employee awareness and reporting of 
potential hazards or injuries. Employees 
across our operations made a sustained 
effort in 2014 to better identify hazards 
and control exposure to risk before 
undertaking their daily tasks. 

Our 2015 target is to achieve an 
OSHA incident rate of 0.95 or below 
and a severity rate of 27 or below. 
The 0.95 OSHA incident rate target is 
established by reducing the world-class 
OSHA rate of 1.0 by 5%.

SAFETY MANAGEMENT  
SYSTEM 

Our approach to injury prevention is 
one that combines leadership from 
the company with the individual 
responsibility of our employees.  
This approach is supported by a 
safety management system (SMS) that 
includes training and awareness, audits 
and monitoring, as well as employee 
engagement through the use of joint 
health and safety committees at all our 
operations. Our employees receive 
specific training on safety policies 
and procedures not only to ensure 
compliance with these requirements, 
but also to be certain that they clearly 
understand the safety expectations  
for performing their job tasks. 

52

Our safety management system is 
comprised of three pillars that drive 
our everyday focus on health and safety 
across our operations: 

•  One-on-one safety commitment 

discussions that allow us to strengthen 
our expectations of how our 
employees will work safely;

•  Hazard recognition that is performed 

prior to undertaking any tasks, 
allowing employees to evaluate and 
control safety-related risks, which 
reduces the potential for injury; and

•  Near-miss reporting that engages 

employees in our health and 
safety processes and provides 
site management teams with risk 
recognition data that we use to 
maintain the daily proactive mindset 
that prevents injuries.

As safety is a priority at all levels of 
the company, our board of directors 
requires regular audits of each 
operation to ensure compliance with 
Resolute’s safety management system. 
These audits are conducted every  
three years. 

OSHA RATE, 2007-2014 AND 2015 TARGET PER 100 EMPLOYEES

Number of injured employees

520

307

184

171

145

107

90

70

3.06

1.95

1.51

1.51

1.43

1.13

1.02

0.83

0.95

2007 2008 2009 2010

2011

2012

2013

2014 2015
Target

49.  The severity rate is calculated by adding the number of workdays lost to the number of restricted workdays due to injury, multiplied by 200,000 hours worked, 

divided by total number of hours worked. 

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 
53

Awards
Resolute’s safety performance and 
initiatives continue to garner accolades: 

•  Last year we received a number of 
awards from the CSST (Quebec’s 
health and safety commission), 
including a leadership award for  
Daniel Roy, the former mill manager 
of the La Doré and Saint-Félicien 
(Quebec) sawmills, for his leadership 
and vision in establishing an injury-
prevention culture by promoting 
accountability and cooperation.

•  Our teams at the Abitibi-LP 

engineered wood joint-venture 
facilities in Larouche and Saint-Prime 
(Quebec) won top safety honors from 
the Washington-based APA – The 
Engineered Wood Association.

•  Resolute also has an internal  

program to recognize operations that 
reach a significant number of hours 
without a recordable injury.  
The Board of Directors Safety Award is 
accompanied by a charitable donation 
to organizations of the facility’s choice. 
Many operations were recognized for 
significant achievements in 2014 and  
a total of C$280,000 was awarded  
to local causes. In January 2015, the  
Baie-Comeau (Quebec) paper mill 
reached 1 million hours without a 
recordable injury, the first paper mill  
to reach this significant milestone  
in company history.

INNOVATIONS  
AND AWARDS

Our proactive approach to safety has 
given rise to a number of innovations 
and contributed to industry recognition.

Cut-resistant gloves
From 2011 to 2013, we recorded an 
average of 20 cuts per year, which 
accounted for more than 15% of our 
OSHA recordable injuries. With the 
implementation of cutting tool policies 
and the gate-to-gate use of cut-
resistant gloves at all our operations, 
hand injuries from cut hazards have 
dropped to only one incident in 2014. 

Chemical protective suits
Our policy governing the use of 
chemical protective suits has reduced 
chemical splash injuries substantially 
since 2012. The suits, however, can be 
uncomfortably hot and can sometimes 
lead to user heatstroke. Our Calhoun 
(Tennessee) and Kénogami (Quebec) 
mills worked with suppliers to design 
more comfortable protective clothing 
made of a breathable fabric that 
prevents penetration by a variety of 
chemicals. Beyond its positive impact at 
our operations, other forest products 
companies are adopting these suits as 
their benefits in the industry become 
more widely known.

Five years after initiating a “total safety culture”,  
we can confidently say that Kénogami employees have 
adopted a proactive mindset when it comes to their  
and their coworkers’ health and well-being.

Wearing a protective chemical suit is often a routine,  
yet cumbersome, part of working at the mill. Adopting a 
proactive approach, the mill formed a multidisciplinary 

taskforce with the mandate to design a safer, watertight, more comfortable  
and breathable suit. A safety solution made for employees, by employees.  
The suit was adapted to specific mill-related working requirements: easy to take on 
and off while wearing boots, longer sleeves to ensure outstretched arms stay covered, 
extra padding on the knees and elbows, and added pockets for pens and radios.  
Also, listed on the front pocket of every suit are the chemicals against which  
the suit effectively protects. A very important feature indeed.

– Paul Falardeau, Kénogami General Manager

Julie Lamontagne, Kénogami paper mill

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORTCOMMUNITY  
INVOLVEMENT

We strive to have a positive and 
meaningful impact in our local and 
regional communities, and support many 
registered charitable organizations 
each year. We have chosen two primary 
pillars of sustainable development as 
our priority areas for philanthropic 
contributions: social (community health 
and education) and environmental 
(community projects and education).  

One of our largest 2014 donations 
(C$125,000) was made to support 
organizations and events in the 
Innu community of Mashteuiatsh in 
Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, 
including the 8th annual First Nations 
Gathering and the Fondation de 
l’héritage culturel autochtone, which 
fosters the preservation of Aboriginal 
cultural heritage in the community. 

We are inspired by our employees 
who volunteer in their communities, 
participating in countless events  
and initiatives in support of many 
important causes.

SUPPORTING OUR  
COMMUNITIES 

In 2014, Resolute’s charitable 
contributions were approximately  
$1 million. Each facility has its respective 
contributions budget, provided that 
50% of the funded activities and 
organizations fall within the company’s 
strategic areas of funding. Last year, 
donations made by the company 
supported causes as diverse as 
United Way/Centraide, First Nations 
community activities and events, the 
Canadian Cancer Society, the Red 
Cross, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean 
hospitals, charities related to raising 
awareness about domestic violence,  
and a variety of other organizations 
selected by employees. 

Facilities can acquire additional funds to 
contribute to community organizations 
from our Board of Directors Safety 
Award, a safety incentive program that 
rewards operations that have worked 
a significant number of hours without 
a recordable injury. In 2014, these 
awards were accompanied by a total of 
C$280,000 in donations to charities 
chosen by mill employees, such as 
suicide prevention programs, Special 
Olympics and local food banks.

We also recognize the importance of 
education and sponsor scholarship 
programs at various colleges and 
universities. One example is our  
five-year C$65,000 partnership with 
the Saint-Félicien community college in 
Quebec. Announced in November 2014, 
it will offer five scholarships annually 
and a paid internship to encourage 
students to pursue careers in pulp  
and paper manufacturing. In 2014,  
we renewed our sponsorship of  
Forces AVENIR, a Quebec program  
that recognizes students who 
are socially conscious, active and 
responsible citizens.

54

EMPLOYEES WHO INSPIRE

We are proud of the important 
contributions our employees make in 
the communities where they live and 
work. Sharing our time and resources  
is part of being a good neighbor and 
helps ensure we have a positive impact 
on the lives of others. 

Here are just a few examples of 
community service provided by 
Resolute employees in 2014: 

•  Catawba mill employees supported 

literacy by being stewards of the free 
libraries in Rock Hill, South Carolina, 
as part of the “Rock Hill Reads” 
initiative. 

•  In West Virginia, our Fairmont mill 
team partnered with local schools 
by purchasing all their waste paper, 
recycling it and giving the proceeds 
back to the schools.

•  In Quebec’s Lac-Saint-Jean region, 
100 Resolute employees provided 
more than 300 rides during Operation 
Red Nose, a volunteer-based driving 
service that reduces impaired driving 
over the holiday season and raises 
funds for local youth organizations. 

•  A group of twenty Resolute 

employees, retirees and contractors 
from our Thunder Bay, Ontario, 
operations organize sporting events 
every year. Skiing, cycling, running 
and triathlon activities are provided 
through the following volunteer 
organizations: Thunder Bay Timing, 
Sleeping Giant Loppet, Thunder Bay 
Cycling Club, Black Sheep Mountain 
Bike Club and Big Thunder Ski Club.

John Lawson, Thunder Bay woodlands operations – Wabigoon (Ontario) tree nursery

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORTRECOGNIZING THE CONTRIBUTIONS  
OF OUR EMPLOYEES 

55

The achievements, initiatives and 
progress detailed in this 2014 annual 
report are the result of the collective 
effort of all our employees across the 
organization. Their dedication, skill, 
ingenuity and engagement are what 
make Resolute a leading forest  
products producer.

Particularly noteworthy is the company’s 
progress in the area of workplace safety. 
The year’s lowest-ever OSHA incident 
rate of 0.83 reflects our employees’ 
focus on safety, which is a core value 
linked to every part of our business.

Our employees also deserve credit 
for three prestigious sustainability- 
and innovation-focused recognitions 
received by the company this past year:

•  In June 2014, Resolute was named 

to Corporate Knights’ Best 50 
Corporate Citizens list, which 
measures companies across twelve 
key performance indicators using 
publicly available data, covering the 
management of resources, employees 
and financials. Corporate Knights is 
recognized globally for its transparent 
and objective approach to measuring 
corporate sustainability performance. 

•  In September, we were named to 

Canada’s Clean50, recognizing leaders 
who made the greatest contributions 
to sustainable development and  
clean capitalism in Canada.

•  In December, we were honored with 

•  Our La Doré (Quebec) sawmill, 

The New Economy’s global Clean Tech 
award for best forestry and paper 
solutions for 2014. These awards 
recognize companies around the world 
whose ideas, achievements, projects 
and solutions reflect innovation,  
long-term vision and leadership. 

In addition to corporate recognition, 
a number of our operations and their 
respective employees were singled out 
for prominent awards in 2014:

•  The McMinn County Economic 

Development Authority named our 
Calhoun (Tennessee) mill APEX 
(Adaptability, Performance and 
Excellence) Innovator of the Year 
for its continuous digester project 
developed by mill personnel.  
The digester is part of the mill’s  
$105 million upgrade that will increase 
pulp production capacity, while 
significantly lowering overall costs  
and improving product quality. 

•  Our Fairmont (West Virginia) team was 
recognized with the Marion County 
Chamber of Commerce President’s 
Award for community support and 
involvement. The pulp mill partners 
with Harrison County schools by 
purchasing and recycling their  
waste paper.

jointly with the Centre de recherche 
industrielle du Québec (CRIQ), 
received a Technology Partnership 
Award from the Association pour le 
développement de la recherche et 
de l’innovation du Québec (ADRIQ) 
for developing a program of regular 
upgrades and improvements to 
existing equipment at the facility.  
The work has resulted in 11 new 
patents and three new systems that,  
in less than a year, have generated  
a return on investment.

•  Our two Abitibi-LP joint-venture 

engineered wood products facilities 
at Larouche and Saint-Prime (Quebec) 
were honored by APA–The Engineered 
Wood Association with a prestigious 
Safest Company Award for their 
spotless safety record in 2013 and 
their operational excellence. 

Whether at the mill or corporate level, 
these awards – and the accompanying 
recognition – belong to our people. 
They demonstrate that we work as  
one team where safety, profitability  
and sustainability drive our future.  
I am proud of what was accomplished 
this past year, and on behalf of the 
senior management team and our  
board of directors, I would like to  
thank our employees.

Richard Garneau
President and Chief Executive Officer

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORTBOARD OF DIRECTORS

CORPORATE OFFICERS

56

Richard Garneau 
President and Chief Executive Officer 

Pierre Laberge
Senior Vice President,  
Human Resources 

John Lafave
Senior Vice President, 
Pulp and Paper Sales and Marketing 

Yves Laflamme
Senior Vice President,  
Wood Products, Procurement and 
Information Technology 

Jo-Ann Longworth
Senior Vice President and 
Chief Financial Officer 

André Piché
Senior Vice President, 
Pulp and Paper Operations 

Richard Tremblay
Senior Vice President, 
Pulp and Paper Operations 

Jacques P. Vachon
Senior Vice President, 
Corporate Affairs and  
Chief Legal Officer

Bradley P. Martin 2, 3 
Chairman of the Board; 
Vice President for Strategic 
Investments,  
Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited

Richard Garneau 
President and Chief Executive Officer

Michel P. Desbiens 2, 3
Corporate Director

Jennifer C. Dolan 1, 4
Corporate Director

Richard D. Falconer 1, 2, 3
Corporate Director;
Senior Partner, Verus Partners & Co.

Jeffrey A. Hearn 2, 4
Corporate Director

Alain Rhéaume 1, 3
Lead Director;
Managing Partner, Trio Capital Inc.

Michael S. Rousseau 1, 4
Executive Vice President and 
Chief Financial Officer, Air Canada

Ambassador David H. Wilkins 2, 4
Partner, Nelson Mullins 
Riley & Scarborough LLP; 
Former U.S. Ambassador to Canada

Board Committees
1  Audit Committee
2  Environmental, Health and Safety Committee
3  Finance Committee
4  Human Resources, Compensation and 

Nominating and Governance Committee

RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS — 2014 ANNUAL REPORTSHAREHOLDER INFORMATION

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

INVESTOR RELATIONS

FORM 10-K

Rémi G. Lalonde
Vice President and Treasurer
514 394-2345
ir@resolutefp.com

MEDIA

Seth Kursman
Vice President,  
Corporate Communications, 
Sustainability and Government Affairs
514 394-2398
seth.kursman@resolutefp.com

INVESTOR INFORMATION  
AND FINANCIAL REPORTING

Investor inquiries should be directed to 
Resolute’s Investor Relations department 
at ir@resolutefp.com.

Vous trouverez la version française  
de ce rapport sur pfresolu.com.

All figures reported in the document  
are stated in U.S. dollars unless  
otherwise stated. 

Resolute Forest Products Inc. files its 
annual report on Form 10-K with the U.S. 
Securities and Exchange Commission,  
a copy of which is included with this  
Annual Report to Stockholders.  
Free copies (without exhibits) are 
available upon request to Resolute’s  
Investor Relations department.  
The company’s SEC filings, annual reports 
to stockholders, news releases and other 
investor information can be accessed at 
resolutefp.com/investors.

STOCK LISTINGS

The shares of common stock of  
Resolute Forest Products Inc. trade  
under the stock symbol “RFP” on both 
the New York Stock Exchange and  
the Toronto Stock Exchange. 

Resolute Forest Products
111 Duke Street, Suite 5000
Montréal, Quebec, H3C 2M1, Canada
514 875-2160 or 1 800 361-2888

For a full list of contacts, visit  
resolutefp.com/contact.

Our annual meeting of stockholders  
will be held on Friday, May 29, 2015,  
at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern), in the Oglethorpe 
Room at the Augusta Marriott at the 
Convention Center, 2 Tenth Street,  
in Augusta, Georgia, United States.

TRANSFER AGENT  
FOR COMMON STOCK

Computershare Trust Company, N.A.
P.O. Box 30170, College Station, 
Texas, 77842-3170, United States
866 820-6919 (toll-free within 
the United States and Canada)
781 575-3100 
computershare.com/investor

CO-TRANSFER AGENT – CANADA

Computershare Investor Services Inc.
100 University Avenue, 9th Floor
Toronto, Ontario, M5J 2Y1, Canada
800 564-6253 (toll-free within 
the United States and Canada)
computershare.com/investor

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED 
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
1250 René-Lévesque Boulevard West 
Suite 2800
Montréal, Quebec, H3B 2G4, Canada

Graphic Design / CG3 inc.

Printed in Canada

 
resolutefp.com

2014

ANNUAL 

REPORT

BUILDING A 

SUCCESSFUL 

TOMORROW